TAMPA, Florida — Days before school is set to start, school districts across Florida are weighing what to do when it comes to one high school class as the College Board says their Advanced Placement Psychology course, taken by tens of thousands of students statewide, has been "effectively banned" by the state.
The College Board. which oversees the course offered to advanced high schoolers seeking college credit, says the Florida Department of Education concluded the lessons related to gender and sexual orientation within the course are against the law, following the state's expansion of the controversial Parental Rights in Education Act.
"As we shared in June, we cannot modify AP Psychology in response to regulations that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness. Our policy remains unchanged," the organization said in a statement. "To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements.
"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.”
In the meantime, the FDOE says districts can still offer AP Psych without teaching the sections related to gender and sexual orientation, but the College Board won't recognize that for advanced placement.
"The Department didn’t 'ban' the course," the response from the FDOE read, in part. "The course remains listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-24 school year.
"We encourage the College Board to stop playing games with Florida students and continue to offer the course and allow teachers to operate accordingly."
Hillsborough County Public Schools say they have more than 1,800 students enrolled in AP Psychology, who will now be automatically switched into “Cambridge AICE” Psychology, an international accreditation course that allows students to obtain college credit. The district also says the curriculum falls in accordance with state laws.
Pinellas County Schools are making the same switch for their 1,300 students enrolled in AP Psychology.
The American Psychological Association said Florida's new policy means students will receive an incomplete education.
“Requiring what is effectively censored educational material does an enormous disservice to students across Florida, who will receive an incomplete picture of the psychological research into human development,” Arthur Evans Jr., CEO of the association, said.
"Not only have I taken the course, but my children have taken it,” Dr. Marlene Bloom told 10 Tampa Bay Friday. Bloom is a licensed psychologist who raised her kids in Tampa and first got into the field by taking AP Psych in high school.
She says the reality is, sexual orientation is part of the field, and as a mom and a psychologist adds even the small section should be a part of the course.
“It's part of human development right and again I rather kids get a neutral fact-based lesson on the topics rather than searching it on their own,” Bloom said.
The switch from AP to AICE will also impact teachers who will now have to change up their course lessons, just days before students get back in the classroom.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.