Francis Howell School Board approves revised versions of Black history, literature courses
ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – The Francis Howell School Board approves revised versions of elective high school courses on Black literature and history.
This decision came Thursday evening and follows months of controversy surrounding efforts by the board to change their courses.
The Francis Howell School Boar took final action in a meeting held at the district headquarters in O’Fallon. Details on what unfolded last night come from our news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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The controversy started months ago when Francis Howell School Board members said they wanted to make changes to Black literature and history elective courses for high school students.
Board members made the case that the courses contained social justice standards from the Southern Law Poverty Center.
The concern was that the standards were attempts to teach students critical race theory.
Our Post-Dispatch partners report that the board last night nearly rejected the Black literature course, but in the end, all of the curriculum was approved with some revisions.
The Post-Dispatch reports that the Black history course underwent the most changes, with entire units being refocused and the curriculum being more sequential rather than more thematic as it was originally written.
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Some accused the board of “whitewashing” the courses by making changes to them. But one board member argued that the courses now give a more accurate representation of history, rather than a view of it through the lens of victim and oppressor.
We understand that across Francis Howell’s three high schools, 60 students enrolled in Black history while 42 students signed up for Black literature courses this year.
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