Parents who tried to set aside their children to learn the Black History Month curriculum at a charter school in northern Utah have withdrawn their requests.
NORTH OGDEN, Utah: Parents who tried to waste their children learning the Black History Month curriculum at a charter school in northern Utah withdrew their requests.
North Ogden’s Maria Montessori Academy experienced a public backlash after announcing plans to make participation optional, the Standard-Examiner reported Saturday.
“We regret that after receiving applications, a deactivation form was sent about the planned activities during this month of celebration,” said a statement from the director of the Academy, Micah Hirokawa, and the board of directors of the ‘school.
“We are grateful that families who initially had questions and concerns have gladly come to the table to resolve any differences, and at this time no family is opting for our planned activities and we have removed this option,” it says. in the statement.
School officials said some families requested the exemption from the instruction, but declined to say how many or specify the reasons set forth.
Betty Sawyer, head of the Ogden chapter of the NAACP, said she contacted the school Saturday morning about the decision to make the Black History Month curriculum optional.
Data from the Utah State Board of Education show that only three of the 322 students at the academy are black, while 70% are white.
Hirokawa wrote Friday on the school’s Facebook page that he reluctantly posted a letter explaining that families are allowed to “exercise their civil rights by not participating in the month of black history at school.”
It looks like the Facebook page was removed on Saturday.
In the future, the school plans to address parents ’concerns individually, Hirokawa said.
Discussions with parents will not lead to a change in the curriculum for Black History Month, which is based on the instruction of black history through state social studies standards, Hirokawa said.
Hirokawa, who is a decent Asian, said posting on social media went against his personal beliefs as a great-grandson of people sent to a Japanese internment camp.
“I personally see a lot of value in teaching our children about the abuse, challenges and obstacles that the people of color in our nation have had to endure and what we can do today to ensure that these mistakes do not continue,” Hirokawa said.