Education commissioner says Black History Month permission slip ‘wrongly done’ by Miami-Dade school

MIAMI – State leaders are pushing back on the idea that Florida laws force the Miami-Dade school district to require permission slips to attend Black History Month events.

District leaders said they are seeking clarity.

Florida State Board of Education Chair Ben Gibson recently sent a letter to the principal of Coral Way K-8 Center.

Gibson’s letter says the state rule does require “…schools to keep parents informed about the extracurricular activities their child is participating in…Obviously, it is wrong to interpret the rule to require parental permission for a student to receive ordinary instruction.”

The rule Gibson is talking about does talk about parental notification, but it also says:

“District procedures must require signed parent or guardian permission forms for the event or activity…that include…The nature of the event or activity…The date(s) and time(s) of the event or activity…Specific location(s) and type(s) of sponsors/guests at the event or activity.”

When Local 10 News first broke the story, the concern from parents was not that kids were not being taught African American history, but that the permission slips could possibly keep students from attending events linked to Black history or the Holocaust.

While Gibson says Coral Way K through 8 Canter is the only school with the problem, the story first came to light after a parent at a different school — iPrep Academy — denounced the practice.

“That was wrongly done at that school,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said. “Superintendent has been advised.”

The district blames the new policy on a state law and Board of Education rule. The superintendent publicly said Tuesday that they’re seeking clarity from the state.

Read Gibson’s letter below: