Credit to Michaela Manfull

A group of concerned community members share their concerns about the announcement that the Black History and Black Literature classes curriculum will be updated by the Board of Education before it is allowed in schools.

Previously on Dec. 21, the Board of Education had voted to remove the Black Literature and History electives in the district; this recently was put back as a pandering decision of which would be available electives for the coming fall at the high schools as long as the Board comes up with a new curriculum that is seen as ‘politically neutral’.

“It did not factor into my wanting to move forward whatsoever, because it is pandering,” NAACP President of Saint Charles District Zebrina Looney said. “We saw them do this with the resolution, I’ve seen them do this over the years plenty of times and this is just their response to what they felt was backlash.” 

What previously had been a small group that met with the media to express their concerns has now become a large community speaking out to what was seen as censorship from the Board. Many still arrived on Dec. 28 to what was an open discussion on what to do as a community. This left many who don’t believe that the pandering decision will end with the classes being reinstated in a positive manner.

“I have younger brothers that are in the district I want them to have a high quality education,” FHN alumna Mya Walker said. ”I know so many students in this district and they deserve a high quality education. And even if I don’t know them, they still deserve a high quality education.”

Students, with the help of various community members, had created a petition under ‘Students for Francis Howell’ which had gotten over 3,400 signatures and had a goal of 5,000. Many feel this had a strong impact on why the Board is rediscussing on what to do with the electives. 

“The board should serve at the will of the people, right now that’s what they believe they’re doing,” parent Heather Fleming said. “So if this is not the will of the people, our people are going to have to speak up.” 

At the Dec. 28 discussion, there were speakers such as Fleming and Looney among student speakers who went on to talk about how the pandering decision shouldn’t stop their plans. They broke out into different groups of parents, students, and community members and discussed what part each group has in making their voices heard. For many this meant registering and heading out to vote at the polls, for students this meant a possible walkout and more depending on the response they get.

“Dr. Maya Angelou once said that ‘every storm runs out of rain’,” Fleming said. “And so this Board is gonna get to a point where they’re gonna run out of hate and we’ll be there to help the district recover.”