O'FALLON, Mo. — After Thursday night, newly revised Black History and Black literature courses could officially change for Francis Howell students.
This comes after the Francis Howell Board of Education removed the original coursework of two Black studies electives over concerns about political bias.
The school board meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, during which the new proposed curriculum on Black studies will be up for a final vote. If it passes, the changes will go into effect next fall.
After students staged various protests and walkouts, the classes were reinstated, but with changes.
During a school board meeting in February, the revised Black History and Black Literature courses and other revised curriculum documents were presented to the board and the public for a first reading.
That new curriculum will focus on the foundation of Black history, colonization, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and analyzing historical documents.
Students, parents and taxpayers have heavily scrutinized the school board's actions.
One parent, Amy Easterling, said during last month's school board meeting, "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."
At last month's meeting, one person 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 were achieved over the last ten 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.
The final vote is set for Thursday night unless a board member elects to "pull" it from the agenda for a separate discussion and vote.
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