An elementary school in Pennsylvania will no longer include the words “God bless America” after students say the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Springfield School District announced in a statement last week that it would require Peter Brigg, principal at Sabold Elementary School, to stop saying “God bless America,” a phrase he added on to the end of the Pledge of Allegiance he leads students in each day.

The school district said the move was prompted by a complaint by at least one parent complaining to the Freedom for Religion Foundation, whose attorney then notified the district that the practice violated federal law, according to the Associated Press.

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The district added that it would not prohibit its students from saying “God bless America” after they recite the pledge.

“To be clear, the District has not altered the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and has not prohibited students from deciding on their own, as their own form of self-expression, whether or not to state the words, ‘God Bless America,’” the district said in its statement.

After consulting with its lawyer, the district decided not ending the practice would open itself up to litigation it says “the local taxpayers would have to financially support.“

“We understand that this is an important topic for many of our constituents; however, please understand that the District does not make the law,” the statement read. “We follow it.”