In reversal, Harford County Public Schools ok's AP African American Studies

Following hours of testimony and a meeting late into the night, the Harford County School Board reversed its own decision approving an AP African American Studies course for the new school year.

Just before 1:30 a.m., the board voted unanimously in favor of the course with revisions that were discussed during the meeting.

Previously the board voted 5-4 against the course in its current form at their June 21st meeting, saying the curriculum needed to be reexamined.

During the 2023–24 school year, a pilot course was offered at Bel Air, Aberdeen, and Joppatowne High Schools.

The yes vote now expands the course's availability to Edgewood, Harford Technical, and Havre de Grace students.

Many people attended Monday night's meeting to support the class becoming a permanent option.

“I've reached out to students who took the course last year, many of them rising first-year college students or planning to join the U.S. armed forces. I did not hear a single, negative aspect about the course," says Leah Lucas, who is the SGA president at Aberdeen High School.

Not everyone, however, was in favor of the curriculum change. Some believe the subject matter is overly political and harmful to students.

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One attendee claims, “The courses pushed by today’s universities are filled with radical activist ideology that zooms in on the worst part of history only to foster dangerous world views.”

A mother chimed in saying, “The highly politicized nature of that course is not appropriate content for high school students.”

Nearly 700 schools piloted the course in the 2023-24 academic year, representing more than 40 states and the District of Columbia, accounting for approximately 13,000 students. A total of 60 schools participated in the first year of the pilot in the 2022–2023 academic year.