ST. CHARLES COUNTY 鈥 Advocates for diversity in education said they will not back down after the Francis Howell School Board reversed its decision to eliminate Black History and Black Literature courses.
Students can enroll in the elective courses at the district鈥檚 three high schools next fall as long as the board approves a new curriculum 鈥渢hat is rigorous and largely politically neutral,鈥 reads a statement Thursday from Adam Bertrand, board president, and Kenneth Roumpos, superintendent.
Last week, the school board鈥檚 conservative majority approved eliminating the courses from the district鈥檚 three high schools because the curriculum standards were developed by the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center. The move garnered national media attention and pushback from students, parents and groups including the NAACP.
More than 3,350 people signed a student-led calling on the board to reinstate the Black History and Black Literature courses. Opponents of the board鈥檚 decision said they are skeptical about their sudden turnabout.
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鈥淭he board has repeatedly declined to discuss their rationale,鈥 said Jamie Martin, president of Francis Howell Forward, a political action committee focused on equity in the district. 鈥淲e urge them to participate with the public and we urge them to heed the public鈥檚 concerns.鈥
The NAACP organized a meeting Thursday night for Francis Howell students and parents to make plans for protesting the board鈥檚 decision.
Heather Fleming, founder of the Missouri Equity Education Partnership and a Francis Howell parent, questioned the need for a new curriculum that the board must approve.
鈥淏lack History and Black Literature cannot be taught from a 鈥榩olitically-neutral鈥 perspective because our entire experience in America has been impacted by socio-political movements,鈥 Fleming wrote on Facebook.
Bertrand is one of five conservatives who gained a majority on the all-white board in the last two years with the support of political action committee Francis Howell Families.
The political group opposes the current curriculum, saying the courses are laced with leftist principles and critical race theory, but supports bringing back Black History and Black Literature 鈥渨ithout progressive political agenda,鈥 .
Randy Cook, the board鈥檚 vice president, said at last week鈥檚 meeting that he is opposed to teaching Black history and literature 鈥渢hrough a social justice framework.鈥
Eliminating the courses was 鈥渙ne of the things I campaigned on,鈥 Cook said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important and it shows that community can come together and make change in a school district.鈥
The Black History and Black Literature curriculum was developed in the 2020-2021 school year at the request of Francis Howell students who complained about discrimination against students and staff of color.
The courses were approved by a previous board in July 2021 after a review from teachers, administrators, the curriculum advisory council and the academic strategic planning committee.
District records show there are 60 students currently taking Black History and 42 taking Black Literature this semester across the three high schools.
The debate over the course curriculum is the latest in a series of racial conflicts in Francis Howell over the last decade.
Earlier this year, the school board voted to rescind the district鈥檚 anti-racism resolution that was adopted in 2020. At the time, the board president Bertrand said he would consider changes and solicit community input for a new resolution, which has not been presented.
The resolution was adopted about two months after thousands of protesters marched three miles down Mid Rivers Mall Drive following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protesters called for changes to Francis Howell鈥檚 curriculum, hiring practices and discipline policies they said discriminated against students and staff of color.
Black students make up less than 8% of the enrollment across Francis Howell鈥檚 19 schools. The curriculum for the Black History course includes the 2013 state-mandated transfer of students from the unaccredited Normandy school district, which was met with anger from many Francis Howell parents.