O'FALLON, Mo. — Thursday night the Francis Howell Board of Education introduced the new curriculum for Black studies courses.
This was the first reading of this new curriculum so they didn't vote on it yet.
Several months ago, the Francis Howell Board of Education removed the two Black studies electives because they were concerned about political bias in the previous curriculum.
The school board's actions have been heavily scrutinized by students, parents and taxpayers.
“It's been concerning truly, to see a particular agenda being pushed. I think it should be first and foremost what's best for our kids, what's best for our students. I don't see that happening and I don't see us being heard,” taxpayer Nancy Slusarski said.
Students staged various protests, walk-outs and even hosted a discussion about the issue.
The board indicated they would only support reinstating the courses with a ‘politically neutral’ curriculum.
A spokesperson for the Francis Howell School District said in a statement:
“Tonight, 17 curriculum documents, including Black history and Black literature elective courses, will be presented to the board and the public as a first reading. The curricula are expected to be presented for a second reading and vote at the March 21 board meeting. Parents, students and patrons with feedback on the proposed revisions are encouraged to contact board members or administration. We are grateful for the many educators who have been involved in the important work of reviewing these courses and providing thoughtful revisions, and to the patrons who have provided input thus far.”
Only one person at the meeting spoke in favor of the board's actions and the new curriculum.
“I’d like to celebrate, acknowledge and credit this board for the notable wisdom accomplishments, that was achieved of the last 10 months. You supported a new robust black history curriculum while rescinding the divisive, southern poverty law centers, social justice of the old curriculum,” the man said.
Parent Amy Easterling said while the new Black literature curriculum doesn’t seem much different the Black history course is very different. She said before it was a topical class now it's organized chronologically.
It's divided into six units with a heavy focus on analyzing historical documents and interpreting historical knowledge to create "informed judgments."
The units will focus on several things including the foundation of Black history, colonization the civil war and the civil rights movement.
“One thing I also noticed is if you read the description of the new curriculum, the word racism is never, ever mentioned. I understand that our administration is possibly in a bind with this board, and they're trying to get something done that'll get approved. But I don't understand how you can talk about black history without acknowledging that racism in this country has existed and does still exist today,” Easterling said.