O'FALLON, Mo. — On Thursday, the Francis Howell Board of Education voted to approve all of the curriculum for the 2024-25 school year, including two restructured Black studies courses.
This is all happening because of a move by the board late last year to remove the current Black studies courses because the majority of the board felt the standards used weren’t "politically neutral."
The current Black literature and Black history electives used the Southern Poverty Law Center Teaching Tolerance standards.
Ahead of the meeting, School Board President Adam Bertrand posted on his Facebook page last night that he was still getting questions about the removal of that standard. In the post, he said, “Below is a glossary of terms. I'm not sure the public would support this in our schools, and I certainly do not. Some of personal shock: Race is a system created by white people, and racism is a system of advantages based on race.”
At the meeting Thursday, board members Randy Cook and Jane Puszkar brought up concerns about a few of the courses, including Mythology, English I, Honors English I, Black Literature and Journalism. Cook said he was concerned that the supplementary books were not specifically published in the curriculum, only the main textbooks were.
“I don’t understand why books that are being read in an English class are not listed in the curriculum,” Cook said.
Cook then called for a vote to delay approving the five courses to “give us more time to work with the administration.”
Puszkar said her concerns were a matter of transparency.
That motion did not pass, so the board then moved on to approve all of the curriculum.
Representatives for the district said families would be notified about everything students would be reading before the semester started and could raise concerns then if they had any.
The room was packed with teachers, parents and even students.
Miranda Bell is a parent and a teacher at another school district. She said before the meeting she hoped the school board would approve the restructured courses.
“I don't think that we need the Southern Poverty Law Center Teaching Tolerance standards to teach Black history in a rigorous way," Bell said. "I think the delivery will be on the educators, the teachers themselves, to make sure that there are teeth there, and that we don't stay away from things that make us uncomfortable. History does make us uncomfortable."
But overall, Bell said as a Black mom of Black sons in this school system, she is still concerned about the board’s recent actions, including rescinding a resolution against racism last summer.
“We are the minority here," Bell said. "And that's a fact. But that takes a lot of effort to not only revoke or allow the anti-racism resolution to sundown. But then to go into the schools and remove the plaques from the wall takes a lot of energy and effort."
Bell said she believes these actions come from a place of fear.
“My journey doesn't understand your fear," she said. "Your journey doesn't understand my pain, but it doesn't mean that we can't sit down and have a conversation. If we can't figure out how to do that as adults, what is the messaging that we're sending to our kids?"
Francis Howell School District Superintendent Kenneth Roumpos thanked the board for approving the black studies curriculum.
The school board election will take place on April 2.
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