The 5-4 vote in June rejecting the curriculum set the program for elimination next year from the three high schools where it is offered — Joppatowne, Aberdeen and Bel Air.
The conversation about the course on Monday night went on for hours, with dozens of community members speaking out about the June decision during the public comment period. It wasn't until early Tuesday morning that Board of Education President Aaron Poynton made a motion to approve the curriculum with minor adjustments.
The yearlong elective course will now be offered next school year to juniors and seniors at Joppatowne, Aberdeen, Bel Air, Edgewood, Havre de Grace and Harford Technical high schools. Last year, 67 students at three high schools enrolled in the course. Next year, the school system said it expects more than 200 students to enroll, due to growing student interest.
The decision to approve the curriculum followed a presentation by the school system's supervisor of social sciences, Erin Lange, who was joined by curriculum specialists, students and teachers of the course.
"History class has become characterized by anxiety, snickers behind hands as slurs are tossed around in novels, heads whipping around to face you at the slightest mention of slavery," Sky Cross, a recent graduate of Bel Air High who took the course, said during the presentation. "AP African American Studies reversed this narrative for the first time."
Cross spoke about the benefits of the course and how it asks students to dig deeper into the uncomfortable reality of Black American history. Cross credited the course with provoking meaningful, productive conversations among students.
When the proposed updates and request for full implementation of the course were brought before the board last month, board members said divisive politics, bias, lack of context and negativity were the reason Poynton, Vice President Melissa Hahn, Terri Kocher, Lauren Strauss and Diane Alvarez, voted against it.
The board's decision was met with criticism from the Harford County Teachers Association, which wrote a letter to the board with two other labor organizations voicing their disappointment with the vote
During the presentation, Lange outlined each concern presented by board members and gave numerous examples of adjustments made to alleviate them, ranging from added assignments to more talking points.
Since the class is an Advanced Placement course, its framework is set by the College Board, which oversees all AP courses. Harford teachers cannot make drastic changes to the curriculum without approval from the College Board. All Harford teachers teaching the course are required to submit a course syllabus to the College Board for approval.
Michael Harris, who teaches the course at Joppatowne High, and John Mobley, who teaches the class at Aberdeen High, said they value giving students diverse perspectives as a means to challenge them to use factual content to think critically and develop their own comprehensive understanding.
"We are not afraid, we are not opposed, we are not concerned — we give the kids the information and guide them through and help them process it," Harris said.
Poynton said reading about the curriculum on paper rather than speaking with the teachers who teach the course may have led to the board to misunderstand what the course offers and how it is delivered.
Referring to Mobley's statement that there is no indoctrination and that all well-rounded perspectives are backed up with facts, Poynton said: "That comes through fairly well with all of you, but it did not come through during the first reading of the curriculum."
Lange said she encouraged teachers who delivered the course to attend the meeting to help people understand what it offers.
"That is the reason I brought these teachers with me tonight — because their passion and dedication to the craft of social science education shows through and the fact that we do not shy away from diverse perspectives," Lange said. "Part of this implementation plan is to allow teachers to meet and collaborate to find resources to challenge students and provide diverse perspectives."
An overflow crowd attended Monday's board meeting. All the seats were taken and dozens stood in the back of the room. Nearly 40 people waited outside, hoping to get in.
Dozens of members of the NAACP wore yellow shirts in support of the course.
Nearly 60 people spoke during public comment, most of whom supported the AP African American Studies course.
"History by its very nature should be uncomfortable and unsettling because this is what gives history value and influence, to sculpt a better future through insight and awareness," said Edgewood High School junior Kareem Wallace. "We are no longer little kids. African American history is much deeper than MLK and Rosa Parks."
Cassandra Beverly, a former Harford school board member, was joined by teachers and community leaders in voicing their disappointment with the board's June decision to discontinue the course.
"I find it astonishing that someone can believe there is a positive way to tell the truth about slavery, Jim Crow and segregation," said Beverly, who is the chair of the Harford County Caucus of African American Leaders. "The request to revise the curriculum to provide more positive messages appears a request to whitewash the truth."
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