From the New York Times news section:

A Utah School Made Black History Month Optional. Then It Reversed Itself.

The Maria Montessori Academy, a charter school in North Ogden, allowed parents to opt their students out. But after an outcry and discussions with the parents, it changed course.

By Christine Hauser
Feb. 8, 2021, 4:33 p.m. ET

A public charter school in Utah allowed parents to withdraw their children from a Black History Month curriculum, but reversed its decision after a public outcry and meeting with parents to address their concerns.

Micah Hirokawa, the director of Maria Montessori Academy in North Ogden, an elementary and junior high school about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, said in a statement on Sunday that the school had, with “regret,” sent an opt-out form to parents who had requested the option.

He did not give details about the parents’ concerns or say how many had tried to withdraw their children from the events and activities that the school had scheduled as part of the monthlong program. But he said in the statement, which was published on the Utah Montessorians Facebook page, that the episode was “alarming” and that the school had been trying to “change hearts and minds with grace and courtesy.”

North Ogden has a population of more than 20,500 people, more than 94 percent of whom are white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Black residents account for less than 0.8 percent of the population.

Only three of the Maria Montessori Academy’s 322 students are Black and 70 percent are white, The Associated Press reported, citing data from the Utah State Board of Education.