Howard County Public School System encourages teachers to use Black Lives Matter lesson materials to teach students; lessons include a focus on disrupting the nuclear family and transgender issues

  • Howard County Public School System - Maryland

Incidents

Issues

On February 10, 2023, the Howard County Public School System published an article from the superintendent promoting the district participating in “Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.” The superintendent stated that the week “gave us an opportunity to highlight, uplift and affirm the rich history and contributions of the Black community through the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, approved here in Howard County through a Resolution by our Board of Education.”

The superintendent explained that the school had lessons for educators to teach students during the week. These lessons are posted on the district’s BoardDocs website. The lessons encourage students to support the Black Lives Matter movement. The lessons that appeared to be for middle school students are titled “Restorative Justice, Empathy, and Loving Engagement,” “Diversity and Globalism,” “Queer Affirming, Transgender Affirming, and Collective Value,” “Intergenerational, Black Families, and Black Villages,” and “Black Women and Femmes.”

The lesson “Queer Affirming, Transgender Affirming, and Collective Value” includes “embracing and making space for trans brothers and sisters to participate and lead, being self-reflexive and doing the work required to dismantle gender privilege and uplift Black trans folk.” The lesson “Intergenerational, Black Families, and Black Villages” includes “disrupting the Western prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages.'”

Superintendent-MessageDownload
MS-•-Day-1-•-Restorative-Justice-Empathy-and-Loving-Engagement_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
MS-•Day-2•-Diversity-and-Globalism_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
MS-•Day-3•-Queer-Affirming-Transgender-Affirming-Collective-Value_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
MS-•Day-4•-Intergenerational-Black-Families-Black-Villages_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
MS-•Day-5•-Black-Women-and-Femmes_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload

The lessons that appeared to be for high school students covered the same topics.

HS-Day-1-•-Restorative-Justice-Empathy-and-Loving-Engagement_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
HS-Day-2-•-Diversity-and-Globalism-_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
HS-Day-3-•-Queer-Affirming-Transgender-Affirming-Collective-Value_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
HS-Day-4-•-Intergenerational-Black-Families-Black-Villages_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload
HS-Day-5-•-Black-Women-and-Femmes_-Secondary-Social-Studies-CommunityDownload

The superintendent’s message also linked to a resolution titled “Resolution Recognizing Black Lives Matter at School: Week of Action” that the Board of Education passed on January 26, 2023. The resolution encourages teachers to use Black Lives Matter materials for their lessons in class.

01-26-2023-Resolution-Recognizing-Black-Lives-Matter-at-School-Week-of-Action-BRDownload