O’FALLON, Mo. — A video platform that’s widely used in the Francis Howell School District has been scrapped by the district’s school board after a member claimed the platform “pushed social agendas.â€
The move was met with frustration at a board meeting Thursday night, where speakers said the platform was an important resource for teachers.
“It doesn’t feel like we trust teachers to teach,†Anita Kuehner, president of the district’s teacher’s union, told the board.
The platform, , offers animated videos on educational topics including math and history. It also includes quizzes and games.
In Francis Howell, teachers have used it to explain the U.S. Constitution, peer pressure, the solar system, Martin Luther King Jr., and the water cycle.
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But the program has drawn the ire of conservative political organizations, including Moms for Liberty, at least in part because it includes lessons on Black Lives Matter and other topics they consider divisive. The groups have pushed for the program to be dropped in some states,
BrainPop marks the latest classroom material removed by a conservative board majority in Francis Howell schools. Five avowed conservatives on the seven-member board have worked in recent years to rid the district of perceived “political indoctrination,†including social justice standards from Black history and Black literature courses earlier this year.
During a phone interview on Friday, board member Randy Cook, who led the effort to remove BrainPop, said he became aware of the platform when a parent complained that their child watched a Black Lives Matter video on BrainPop in class.
“Apparently this child’s parent was a police officer and came home asking the other parent about whether police were racist and didn’t like Black people,†Cook said. “You can imagine the parents’ disgust at this discussion with their small child.â€
The students were told to pick a video from the Black history section of BrainPop, Cook said, and the student chose that one. He also pointed to other examples of videos on BrainPop that he thought were biased.
“For instance, there’s a video of Barack Obama that just kind of glorifies his presidency,†Cook said. “Another video injects the so-called gender identity discussion into a video about personal pronouns.â€
Cook first challenged BrainPop last October, but ultimately voted to renew its subscription. It was one of his “biggest regrets†on the board, he said Friday.
At the time, Meredith Bates, the district’s K-12 instructional technology leader, described BrainPop as a resource “near and dear†to teachers and students.
“It’s a vital tool for multiple areas that don’t have district resources,†she said.
Francis Howell students in kindergarten through eighth grade completed more than 80,000 of BrainPop’s activities in the latest academic year.
Middle school ELA teacher Raquel Babb said Thursday teachers vet and preview what students watch on the platform. And some are taking a course through Lindenwood University to learn how to best use it, Babb said.
“They’re going to be finishing a course that they’re not even going to be able to apply, but they’ve already paid for it,†Babb said in an interview.
Newly elected board member Steven Blair and board president Adam Bertrand were the lone votes to keep BrainPop in the district.
At the meeting Thursday, Cook declined to provide specifics on his objection when pressed by Blair. Cook “doesn’t support the direction BrainPOP has taken,†he said.
BrainPop will remain in Francis Howell schools until December, Cook said. The subscription renewal would have cost the district $28,803 and run from December to July 2025.
It’s not yet clear what program, if any, the district will use to replace it.