ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — In a reversal from a school board vote last week, the Francis Howell School District announced Thursday that it will offer Black history and Black literature electives for the 2024-25 school year.
"After thorough discussions, we believe there is an appropriate path forward to offer Black History and Black Literature with an updated curriculum standard in the 2024-25 school year," the joint statement from Board President Adam Bertrand and Superintendent Kenneth Roumpos said.
On Dec. 21, the board voted 5-2 to remove the electives. Three of the board members released a statement saying they voted to remove the classes over their inclusion of content from "Social Justice Standards: The Teaching Tolerance Anti-Bias Framework."
In the days after the vote, students voiced their disapproval of the move and circulated a petition to bring the classes back. As of Thursday afternoon, that petition had more than 3,200 signatures.
In an interview earlier this week, Roumpos said he and the district leadership team valued the courses and wanted to make sure they could bring them back somehow.
“We’re committed to finding a way to do that in a way that hopefully the board would be supportive of. We think they are important and can be offered for all of our students throughout the district,” Roumpos said.
The statement on Thursday did not say what changes would be made to the curriculum.
The NAACP of St. Charles County planned to host a discussion about the issue for parents and students at 5 p.m. Thursday at First Saint Charles United Methodist Church, located at 801 First Capitol Drive in St Charles.
The district's full statement is as follows:
"All students deserve a top-tier Francis Howell education; one that includes rigorous academics in core subjects such as math, science, English, and social studies, but also opportunities for students to learn hands-on skills in practical arts courses, express themselves through fine arts courses, and expand their learning in a variety of elective courses that add depth and breadth to our curriculum.
"After thorough discussions, we believe there is an appropriate path forward to offer Black History and Black Literature with an updated curriculum standard in the 2024-25 school year. To ensure there is no gab in instruction, high school students will be able to register for Black History and Black Literature courses when enrollment opens in January.
"We are confident in our academic team's ability to bring forth a curriculum that is rigorous and largely politically neutral - one that will meet the Board's approval on a timeline that prevents interruption of course offerings"