Photo: Palm Beach County School District
An AP Psychology course will be offered in Palm Beach County public schools after all.
Superintendent Mike Burke on Wednesday said he had a change of heart after discussing the matter with state education officials and the College Board.
"We're gonna teach the course in its entirety but with that particular lesson plan, we'll just be very careful and make sure it's taught in an age and developmentally appropriate manner."
The lesson plan he's referring to is one that discusses gender identity and sexual orientation, which goes against state law. The College Board last week announced that the state had "essentially banned" the course. But Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. has since said that schools are allowed to offer AP Psychology as long as the lesson plan in question is handled in an "age and developmentally appropriate manner."
Burke says he is working with his counterparts in other school districts to develop a lesson plan.
"I've talked to superintendents in Collier and Miami-Dade county that have already done a lot of work on this in partnership and they've been gracious enough to bring Palm Beach County into the fold."
Burke, during a back-to-school press conference Wednesday, said that while the ban on teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation was expanded to eighth grade through the Parental Rights in Education law this year, a state Board of Education rule was passed in July that bans it through high school. He says the students taking the college level course are, for the most part, juniors and seniors in high school.
The superintendent also had to backtrack on a comment made just Tuesday. While speaking with the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, he said that "if there was a way we could teach this course and not have our teachers get arrested, we would do it in a second."
Here is what he said on Wednesay morning:
"That was not the best choice of words. I should have said they could've gotten in trouble. Their certification, their credentials could've been in jeopardy. Their livelihood could've been in jeopardy. In hindsight I should not have used the word arrest. I was trying to be entertaining and to show the gravity of the situation and I'll be more careful in the future."
There is nothing in the Parental Rights in Education law that states teachers who violate it could face arrest, something a reporter pointed out to Burke.
The superintendent says the word is getting out to school principals across the county and once the lesson plan is written, it will be taught to teachers. Some other Florida school districts continue to say they will not offer AP Psychology.
School starts in Palm Beach and all Treasure Coast counties, along with many others around the state, on Thursday.