School districts in Denton County will not broadcast President Obama’s national address live in every class to schoolchildren on Tuesday, but officials have come up with various solutions to make the speech available to those students interested in watching.

Superintendent Ray Braswell said that the district will not “view the address in a live format.” The speech will be taped and archived, his letter read, and a link will be posted on the district’s Web site to www.whitehouse.gov , as well as to the archived speech itself.

Braswell said in the letter that the decision of trying to satisfy “both supportive and non-supportive” opinions of the address was “no easy task.” However, he said the district’s final decision to not air the address was based on several concerns: that the speech is being broadcast during some students’ lunch periods and that district technology may not be capable of streaming the speech live to classrooms.

“This format allows our parents and students to make individual choices related to the viewing of the broadcast, it allows our campuses to maintain a normal operating schedule, and it removes any possible technology issues we might have,” Braswell’s letter read. “It is hoped that these decisions will allow for some individual choices.”

District spokeswoman Sharon Cox said politics didn’t factor into the decision on how to address broadcasting the president’s speech.

District officials “just wanted to try to make it as fair and equitable to students,” she said.

In the past week, Cox said, the district’s central office has fielded about 100 calls and at least 30 e-mail messages from parents and residents who opposed the president’s speech being aired in classrooms. General concerns dealt with what Obama would say in his speech and that children would have to be in classrooms where the speech was shown, she said.

“Many parents that I talked to said that they would keep their children home from school if it was shown in the classroom,” Cox said. “This was more than we anticipated, but I believe this has been the trend from several school districts that we’ve talked to.”

Billy Robinson, a grandparent and legal guardian to a Calhoun Middle School student, said that he couldn’t see why there would be a problem showing the live speech to students. He said he believes the speech will give children assurance to stay in school and graduate.

“[To] see a poor black guy from his upbringing raised by his grandparents grow up to become the president of the United States, I believe they [students] should have the right to hear what he has to say,” Robinson said. “I think he’s a pretty damn good example for young children.”

A letter addressed to school principals by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan last week said that the speech would “challenge students to work hard, set education goals and take responsibility for their learning.” The speech will air at 11 a.m. on the White House Web site.

Like Denton, the Argyle, Krum, Lake Dallas and Ponder school districts have opted to not broadcast Obama’s speech, citing similar reasons. They all have decided to post a link to the speech on their school Web sites for students and parents to watch at their leisure.

Sanger Superintendent Jack Biggerstaff said that the district will not show the video in classrooms on Tuesday; however, it will provide the option for students and teachers who would like to view the address to do so during their lunch period in a campus library.

Aubrey Superintendent James Monaco said that students wishing to view the address must present a permission form signed by a parent. The speech will be available for students in fourth through 12th grades to view.

Aubrey students will have four options for watching the video. The speech will be aired live for high school students to view only during their lunch period and also recorded for all other students to view before or after school during the week. Students also will have the option to go to a designated room with a teacher to watch the recorded speech during activity time, which generally is used for guidance lessons and improvement in subject areas. It will not interrupt instructional time, Monaco said.

He said the district came to a decision that meets most needs without disrespecting anyone, yet respecting the office of president and offering parental choice.

“Our biggest thing is parental choice,” he said. “Nobody will be forced either way.”

BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com .