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Utah charter school that incorporates Black History Month into its lesson plans now faces backlash after the school announced it allows parents to exclude students from the program .
Maria Montessori Academy principal Micah Hirokawa announced the decision in a post on the school’s private Facebook page on Friday, according to local media on Standard Examiner.
Hirokawa wrote that he “reluctantly” sent a letter to families stating that administrators were allowing them “to exercise their civil rights not to participate in Black History Month at school”.
Hirokawa said in the post that “A few families” had asked not to participate in the program, but he refused to tell Standard-Examiner the exact number of parents who contacted the school or the reasons they gave for making the request.
The director of the charter public school added that the parents’ request “Saddens me deeply and disappoints me.”
“We must not protect our children from the history of our nation, the mistreatment of its African American citizens and the courage of civil rights defenders, but should educate them about it.” Said Hirokawa.
Hirokawa told Utah media that the school, which serves elementary and middle school students, is integrating Black History Month into social studies and history classes, with a particular effort this year. to highlight the achievements of African-American figures in US history.
Hirokawa, who is of Asian descent and noted that his great-grandparents were sent to a Japanese internment camp, told the outlet he believed “a lot of value in teaching our children about the abuse, challenges and obstacles that people of color in our nation have had to endure and what we can do today to ensure that these wrongs do not continue.
A parent at school, Rebecca Bennett, reportedly wrote in a commentary on Hirokawa’s Facebook message stating that she was “dismayed to see the form sent that allows parents to remove their children from this and to hear that this is all due to some parents asking for it. ”
“I echo others who are disappointed to learn that this was even a problem in the first place by some families in our school community,” she added.
The school board refused to give the Standard Examiner any further information about the decision.
The Hill reached out to the charter school for comment.
According to the Utah State Board of Education, only three of the academy’s 322 students are black, with white students making up about 70% of the school’s population.
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