DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — The Douglas County Board of Education is set to meet Tuesday to discuss a new advanced placement (AP) course drawing criticism from parents.
It's an African American Studies class that board members said a handful of parents emailed them about, leading to a 4-3 vote last month to postpone the discussion until December 10.
Christy Williams, president of the Douglas County Board of Education, said she felt she needed more time to understand concerns and learn the details of the course.
"I don’t feel I am prepared to vote on this at this time," she said.
Usually when the district adds new courses to its curriculum, they do that in December. This is to make sure students have enough time to make a decision before registration in January, according to board members.
However, due to the course's 441-page agenda, board members didn't think they could make a decision last month.
"I have students of all colors coming to me asking, 'can we get this course?' And as a teacher, any time a student expresses that much enthusiasm for academics, I listen," said Valarie Moses, teacher at Highlands Ranch.
Moses introduced the course and said it would be an elective, not a requirement, and won't limit or replace other courses in the curriculum.
"In this age when we’re kind of constantly concerned about student engagement, motivation, cell phones and social media and everything else, these students are asking for an opportunity to study something meaningful for them," Moses added.
This is the same course that has drawn push back nationwide since last year, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned it from classrooms across the state, arguing it was not historically accurate and violated state law that regulates how race-related issues are taught in public schools, according to The New York Times. By law, Florida already requires the teaching of African American history in its curriculum.
Back here in Douglas County, board members said parents emailed and called in with several concerns about the content of the AP course, which included Critical Race Theory (CRT), a decades-old academic concept that posits that racism isn't just an individual bias, but a behavior embedded in Western societies that impacts people's lives from education and housing to employment and health care.
Brad Geiger, director on the Douglas County Board of Education, voted against tabling the approval. He said a small group of people shouldn't get to "take away the rights of other parents" to decide whether to enroll their child in an optional class.
"It has been reviewed by experts nationwide. It has been reviewed by the College Board. It has been subjected to criticism and revision and now the people in our district have looked at it, reviewed it and found it to be appropriate for our students," Geiger said.
The board is slated to vote whether to approve the course Tuesday.
Denver7 explored multiple perspectives on the topic of Critical Race Theory back in 2021. View our report in the video below.
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