A public school in Florida is asking parents to sign a permission slip – just so their children can participate in Black History Month activities.
Parents at IPrep Academy say they were shocked at the request from the administration. The form asks parents and guardians to decide if they want their kids to participate in “class and school-wide presentations showcasing the achievements and recognizing the rich and diverse traditions, histories, and innumerable contributions of the Black communities.”
One parent noted concern over the problematic ask.
“I was shocked,” Jill Peeling said. “I’m concerned. I’m concerned as a citizen.”
Peeling said initially, she thought she may have just misunderstood the form, but she was correct in her thoughts.
Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on numerous mandates on how state teachers are required to teach Black history – including extolling the benefits of slavery. One mandate from July 2023 pushed for lessons about Black history to be taught in an “objective” way and aimed not to “indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view.”
Several lawmakers, including Byron
Donald – Florida’s only Black Republican congressman – have bashed the antics against teaching Black history. But Florida is not the only state pushing against teaching Black history. Protests erupted after a conservative-dominant Missouri school board voted to remove Black history electives just months after canceling an anti-discrimination policy.African American history expert and Florida International University Professor Marvin Dunn says antics like this will create a generation of people who are misled about Black history.
“When parents become involved in making that decision, keeping some kids out, some kids in, you have unequal learning,” Dunn said.
He continued to say that DeSantis’ administration’s interference in the classroom is inappropriate and will have serious consequences.
“The intent of the DeSantis attack on education is to make schools more cautious, to make teachers more cautious about what they teach, and it’s working,” he said. “It’s not about banning books necessarily. It’s about banning ideas.”
Miami-Dade School Board Member Steve Gallon says the permission slip was just the district following state board rules.
“We have to follow the law,” Gallon said, according to Business Insider. “Something feels very off here, and the fact that the school needs to cover themselves against the state feels even worse.”
He continued to claim the permission slip was just to get parental consent for when individuals come on campus.