MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A few weeks ago, Jill Peeling was in disbelief when she received a permission form and her daughter asked her to sign it so she could participate in Black History class.
Peeling’s daughter is a student at iPrep Academy, a magnet school with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Peeling spoke up and got national attention. There was a backlash.
“The reason this has gotten so much traction is because people know it is wrong,” Peeling said.
Miami-Dade School Board member Steve Gallon said he was concerned about the students whose parents decided not to sign the form.
“This is about equal access to the fullness of what education represents,” Gallon said.
Peeling said the school board members need to look at the state law that prompted the school to send parents the form and not the law’s implementation.
Manny Diaz, the Florida Commissioner of Education, disagreed. He had an issue with the implementation of the law.
“That was wrongly done at that school,” Diaz said. “Superintendent has been advised.”
This prompted a directive to school principals to “postpone the use of the Form 2424,” according to several sources familiar with the process in Miami-Dade.
“Form 2424 is undergoing a revision,” the directive said, according to Local 10 News sources.
Peeling saw it as a small victory, but what she wants is for the state law to go.
“Black history has been something that has been around for generations,” Peeling said. “And to try and put a permission slip in place and say, ‘Well an outside speaker is coming in.’
“At what point does it stop?”