'Bias,' 'equity' course required to graduate from elite private school in Florida

An elite private preparatory school in Florida requires high school students to take a course on "bias" and "equity" to graduate.

What are the details?

North Broward Preparatory School is an elite private school in Coconut Creek, Florida, that instructs children from 3 to 18 years old. It charges $38,520 per year in high school tuition and now requires students in the class of 2025 and onward to take a mandatory "Confronting Bias, Working Towards Equity" course.

The preparatory school is part of a global network of 81 schools in 32 countries operated by Nord Anglia Education. The international family of schools instructs 70,000 students worldwide with academies in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.

According to the school system, "curriculum initiatives and complementary programmes are developed centrally and shared locally."

"Across our organisation, we have built leadership capacity to encourage local dialogue and awareness, to understand the local context and needs and then develop our global strategy which scopes our priorities moving forward," it added.

The Nord Anglia international network operates eight schools in the United States in cities including Orlando, Coral Springs, Houston, Charlotte, Washington D.C., New York City, Boston, and Chicago.

The mandatory bias and equity course at the Coconut Creek school is for "incoming Grades 9-11." It aims to "raise students' awareness and give strategies to not only acknowledge their biases and prejudices but to also speak up in situations when biases and prejudices are present," according to the course description.

The class seeks to help students to cultivate a "confident sense of identity, a sense of fairness and justice, without the need to feel superior to others."

"By normalizing and focusing on the study of certain issues through a historical, political, and social lens, we can ensure that our students are learning relevant social sciences skills while also engaging in the vital work of exploring inclusivity, diversity, and confronting bias in their everyday lives," the course description stated.

It is unclear what "certain issues" will be examined through the "historical, political, and social lens." However, the class description notes that the "course meets an NBPS graduation requirement" and that students will receive a "pass/fail" grade that will not impact their GPA.

A parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital that the school is going against Florida parents' calls to remove woke ideology from the classroom.

"I do not understand why, in a state where we overwhelmingly voted to re-elect a governor who is actively fighting this type of woke ideology, a school with headquarters based out of London has made this a graduation requirement in the state of Florida," the parent stated.

"I certainly don't want my child told that he's prejudiced and biased based solely off of the color of his skin," the parent added. "What happened to judging people by the content of their character?"

DEI initiatives at Nord Anglia campuses

While it is unclear if other Nord Anglia schools also require a similar course, a February blog post from the school system's British International School of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia revealed that "students from Year 1 to Year 6" learned about "gender bias and stereotypes" during lessons on "Equity, Diversity and Inclusion."

Students participated in activities including "how toy advertisements can influence children's choices; examining gender representation in our 'Beyond the Curriculum' program; learning how it is important to challenge popular statements like 'all girls are gentle'; and examining gender stereotypes in cartoons and books."

"Children were encouraged to 'break the bias' in a variety of ways," the article continued. "A range of outcomes included gender-neutral posters, advertisements and cartoons. Action plans related to the 'Beyond the Curriculum' program have been created along with future displays for both primary libraries promoting strong female protagonists."

The Nord Anglia's British International School of Houston was recently granted the "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Award" at the 2023 International School Awards.

The judging panel of 13 "education experts" stated that the Texas school audits its curriculum offerings "to ensure the representation of all stakeholders."

Barrie Scrymgeour, principal at British International School of Houston, stated, "I'm proud to accept this award on behalf of our community, which recognises the importance we place on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. These are values our students, parents, and teachers all see as critical."

He noted that DEI initiatives are "part of the difference that is a Nord Anglia education."

North Broward Preparatory School and Nord Anglia did not respond to a request for comment, Fox News Digital reported.

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