AP Psychology is Back in the Curriculum in South Florida

Photo via Pixabay.

After Palm Beach County pulled AP Psychology from schools, the school district reversed its decision and is offering it once again.

Miami-Dade schools never removed it, and in Broward County, students must have express permission from parents to take it as an “opt-in” class.

The confusion arose after the College Board, which creates and manages Advanced Placement courses, the PSAT and SAT, said that the class violates Florida’s parental rights laws (also known as “Don’t Say Gay”) as sections cover sexual orientation and gender identity. The board would not allow modifications to the 30-year-old course to be made and in a statement, the College Board said Florida has “effectively banned AP Psychology.”

In response, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz said that the state had no intentions of pulling the class and it would be offered in its entirety — so long as it was “age and developmentally appropriate.” This puzzled school administrators, who weren’t sure how the sections in question could be handled.

Palm Beach County Public Schools announced days before the start of school that the county would no longer offer the class. Then on Aug. 9, the day before the first day of school, they reversed their decision and in a statement shared that they decided to reinstate the class after concerns were “mitigated.”

“The college-level AP Psychology course will be taught in its entirety in an age and developmentally-appropriate manner to enrolled high school students in Palm Beach County,” the statement reads.

Broward County, where students return to school on Aug. 21, never removed the class from its offerings but is now making it an “opt-in” class that “expressly requires parental consent,” Superintendent Dr. Peter Licata said in a statement. According to the school district, 2,500 students in the county were enrolled in AP Psychology.

Meanwhile, Miami-Dade Public Schools appear to have made no modifications to the class and are still offering it as is. The first day of school is Aug. 17.

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