OGDEN, Utah – One Ogden school has reversed its decision to allow parents to forgo the Black History Month curriculum after receiving a setback from the community.
Parents at the Maria Montessori Academy in North Ogden have been sent an email informing them that they will have the option to take their child out for the lessons and events planned throughout February.
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The statement was posted on the school’s Facebook page, but has since been removed from the website.
“I’m not exactly sure why anyone thought they should send out a document with the words, ‘You know,’ I do not want my child to take part in this activity, ‘” said Jaime Tracey, a parent of ” a student at the school. “That’s what the document says.”
Tracey’s daughter has been a student at the Maria Montessori Academy for seven years.
“This is the first year that anything has ever been discussed about Black History Month,” she added.
She said she has been working for years to include Black History Month as part of the school’s curriculum.
“I always insisted on it,” Tracey said.
Lex Scott, the founder of Black Lives Matter Utah, said the decision to allow parents to resign is appalling.
“You can’t extract black history. Black history is American history,” Scott said. “So it absolutely comes from a place of racism and ignorance.”
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In a follow-up email sent to parents on Thursday, the school’s director, Micah Hirokawa, said he was very sad and disappointed that parents would not elect their children to the Black History Month curriculum. In the email, Hirokawa added that as an Asian American whose grandparents were thrown into internment camps, he appreciates teaching students about ‘the abuse, challenges and obstacles that people in our country have had to endure’.
“It’s just heartbreaking that someone who runs a school would believe that it’s good in any way, that it’s acceptable in any way to try to ban talking about black history,” Scott added.
Hirokawa was appointed in April 2020 to replace the former director of the school. Tracey said she believes he made a sincere effort to include the Black History Month lessons as part of the school’s curriculum.
“I just knew he was as surprised as I was that a lot of families probably sent the paperwork not to participate,” Tracey said.
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Scott added that the ability of parents not to sign up should have been an option in the first place.
“He has to learn from this, he has to apologize and make sure that every child in the school learns black history,” she said.
Utah Law do allow parents to choose their children from sections of the curriculum based on religious beliefs or conscience. But a representative at the Utah State Board of Education explained with FOX 13 that ‘no student can be expelled from the state Social Studies Standards which includes a focus on American history, inequality, and race relations. ‘
Hirokawa again sent an email to parents on Saturday afternoon apologizing for the option to waive and revoked the offer. The email states that “no families are currently deciding on our planned activities, and we have removed this option.”