Parents at a Florida school were asked to sign off on their students attending Black History Month events, according to a report.
WPLG reported that parents at iPrep Academy in Miami received permission slips asking them if they wanted their kids to participate in February’s Black History Month activities.
The offerings include schoolwide and classroom-based presentations “showcasing the achievements and recognizing the rich and diverse traditions, histories, and innumerable contributions of the Black communities,” WPLG reported.
One parent, Jill Peeling, told the local news station she was “shocked” by the form, which would in effect allow parents to remove their children from classes highlighting Black accomplishments.
“I’m concerned as a citizen,” she told WPLG, adding that she initially thought she’d misunderstood the form.
Steve Gallon, a member of the Miami-Dade School Board, told WPLG that the policy aligns with a recent state board rule, which is itself an extension of the Parents’ Bill Of Rights.
“We have to follow the law,” Gallon told the local news station.
However, he said: “Something feels very off here, and the fact that the school needs to cover themselves against the state feels even worse.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made Florida’s schools a battleground for the culture wars, implementing measures such as banning teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity and controlling pronoun use.
His administration has also introduced laws banning books and banning DEI initiatives in universities.
DeSantis has framed this as a war on “woke” and an expansion of parental rights. But his critics have decried it as encroachments on academic freedom and human rights.
Marvin Dunn, a professor at Florida International University whose work focuses on schooling practices and race relations, told WPLG he’s concerned that decisions like this latest one will have detrimental effects.
He said there will be “unequal learning” among students on Black history.
Dunn linked the move to DeSantis’s wider agenda, which he described as an attack on education that would “make teachers more cautious about what they teach, and it’s working.”
Florida’s Board of Education and iPrep Academy did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comments, which were sent outside of operating hours.
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