Utah School Faces Backlash For Allowing Students To Opt-Out Of Black History Month Curriculum

A Utah charter school is facing backlash after announcing on Friday that it allowed parents to opt-out of Black History Month curriculum.

The Hill reports that Maria Montessori Academy Director Micah Hirokawa announced in a post to the school’s private Facebook page. Hirokawa said in his post that “a few families” asked not to participate in the curriculum. He did not provide an exact number of families or their reasoning for opting out. 

“Reluctantly, I sent out a letter to our school community explaining that families are allowed to exercise their civil rights to not participate in Black History Month at the school,” Hirokawa wrote in the post.

In celebration of Black History Month, the school is adding the curriculum to its regular social studies and history lessons. They will also make an effort to celebrate African Americans’ achievements and recognize their role in the country’s history, he told the local news outlet the Standard-Examiner. 

According to the outlet, only three of the school’s 322 students are Black. This equates to about 1% of the student body, while approximately 69.6% of students are white.

The school, which bases its instruction on the Montessori method, has been open for a little over a decade. Hirokawa was hired last April after the former director, René Baker, stepped down for reasons that were not disclosed.