WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The College Board is advising schools in Florida not to offer AP Psychology after the Florida Department of Education has "effectively banned" the course for content in its curriculum.
"I planned my entire four years of high school before I even stepped foot [on campus], so it's disruptive for any student who has a four-year plan," said Alana Ferguson who is a Suncoast High School graduate and just finished her freshman year at Princeton University.
According to a statement from the College Board, the Florida Department of Education said that the sexual orientation and gender identity portions of the AP Psychology class go against state law.
Education
College Board advises Florida schools to not offer AP Psychology
"Do you think removing sexuality and gender identity would still be the same course in your opinion?" asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez to Ferguson.
"No," answered Ferguson.
She said she took the course her freshman year at Suncoast High School.
"I just think that sexuality is one of those fundamental aspects of socialization that provides the basis for so many greater things that you're going to learn in psychology," Ferguson said.
Equality Florida worries about the impact on students because the College Board said the move could result in the removal of the course's AP designation.
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"This is a national course; it means millions of students take this class every year around the country and Florida doesn't get to sensor the parts out that they don't feel that they want to teach," Brandon Wolf with Equality Florida said. "You can't send someone to an AP exam having only taken half the AP Psychology course and try to give them the same amount of credit as another student in another state that took the entire course."
The College Board said the element of the framework is not new and has been a part of the curriculum for 30 years.
But Jennifer Pippin, the chairwoman of the "Moms for Liberty" chapter in Indian River County, said it's time to follow new state statutes.
"What these students can do is when they go off to college, they can take the more advanced courses or they can learn it at home with their parents or their guardians, but the laws have to be followed," Pippin said.
The College Board said that school districts can still teach AP Psychology if they exclude those topics from the curriculum.
"What they're doing is they pulled temporarily the AP Psychology class, and they're reviewing it for the new laws," Pippin said. "Once that review is done, they may remove things. They may add some things just like they did with the AP African American History class. They're just making sure that it's up to standards, that they're following the laws."
The School District of Palm Beach County said Friday they have removed AP Psychology from their course offerings.
Read the district's full statement below:
"The School District of Palm Beach County has made the difficult decision to remove AP Psychology from our course offerings due to the uncertainty surrounding the viability of the AP Psychology exam and course credit in Florida. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to students and our teachers who have already prepared for this course and want to assure our community that we are dedicated to helping our students find suitable alternatives within our curriculum.
Our academic counselors and administrators will be available to guide and support affected students during this transition. We remain committed to providing a high-quality education and offer a wide range of courses to foster academic and personal growth."