After rift between state and College Board, Polk Public Schools ditch AP Psychology

Orientation is Wednesday for Polk County Public Schools, but high school students who were expecting to take AP Psychology this year will be disappointed.

Following a standoff last week between state Department of Education officials and the College Board over the course's content on sexuality and gender, the district sent letters by email Friday to hundreds of families explaining that AP Psychology would not be offered for the 2023-24 academic year.

"Please know that I share your frustration with the recent turn of events," Superintendent Frederick Heid said in the letter. "I had hoped that the Department and College Board would be able to find a resolution that benefits our students.

"We will shift our focus to ensuring that we find a quality alternative course for your child."

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, derided by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which barred instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. The law expanded to 12th grade this spring.

On Thursday last week, superintendents across the state were told by the Department of Education during a conference call that schools should not teach AP Psychology unless the college-level course's sections on sexuality and gender were removed.

The College Board, which administers the AP program in addition to the SAT, fired back in a news release that removing this content would "effectively ban" the class because it could no longer be called Advanced Placement or be used to earn college credit.

"To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements," the College Board said Thursday. "Therefore, we advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course."

A day later, the state seemingly reversed course in a new letter to superintendents.

"The Department believes that AP Psychology can be taught in its entirety in a manner that is age and developmentally appropriate and the course remains listed in our course catalog," Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. wrote in a letter dated Friday.

The College Board said the Diaz's letter on Friday provided clarity.

"While district superintendents continue to seek additional clarity from the department, we note the clear guidance that, 'AP Psychology may be taught in its entirety.'"

The department stressed that the course was not banned, and it's still listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-2024 year. But not all districts felt the guidance was clear enough. Districts such as Polk, Palm Beach and Brevard canceled the courses for the year.

"The way to safeguard both our employees and students is to remove the course from our offerings," wrote Brevard Superintendent Mark Rendell in an email to school board members on Friday afternoon. In follow-up emails over the weekend, Rendell continued to cite concerns about legal repercussions against teachers.

As of Tuesday morning, Polk County stood by its decision to cancel the course for the year, according to Kyle Kennedy, senior coordinator of media relations for the district. He said Heid was not available for further comment.

Of Polk County's two charter school systems, The Schools of McKeel Academy, said Tuesday it would offer the course.

"McKeel Academy of Technology will continue to provide this course offering for the 49 students currently enrolled," said Kristine Fagan, communications and community relations director. "Our teacher of the two units will provide the course content in an age and developmentally appropriate manner."

She added, "It's important to note also that this content is taught towards the end of the school year. We will continue to follow and monitor further directives from the DOE as well as the consideration of our families and stakeholders who have supported and requested that we maintain the instruction of AP Psychology."

The Lake Wales Charter District has not offered AP Psychology for a few years and does not intend to offer it this school year, Lake Wales High School Principal Anuj Saran said through a secretary Tuesday.

Both charter districts also have orientation Wednesday.

Nearly 30,000 students across Florida were scheduled to take AP Psychology this school year.

Did Florida ban AP Psychology? Here's what you need to know

The Advanced Placement program allows high school students to study university-level courses that can be used for course credit, advanced placement, or both in colleges and universities.

AP Psychology is one of 38 courses offered in the program. Others include art history, biology, college-level mathematics and physics, several languages and cultures, history, macro- and microeconomics, U.S. government and politics, and more. Gender and sexual orientation have been a part of the AP Psychology curriculum for the past 30 years, according to The College Board.

According to reporting by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, the state asked the College Board in June to review all its courses to ensure they complied with Florida law. The College Board refused, stating "we will not modify our courses to accommodate restrictions on teaching essential, college-level topics."

Information from previous reports by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida was used in this report.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk Public Schools won't offer AP Psychology for upcoming school year