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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe spat between the state and local school officials spiraled after a social media user on Monday shared a photo of a form requesting permission for students to \u201cparticipate and listen to a book written by an African American.\u201d The form described the guests that could attend as \u201cfireman\/doctor\/artist,\u201d but did not specify the book or author in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had to give permission for this or else my child would not participate???\u201d the user who went by the name Chuck Walter, posted on X<\/a>, formerly known as Twitter. Local media organizations connected the slip to Coral Way K-8 Center in Miami. Walter told NBC News<\/a> that he gave the Coral Way K-8 Center teacher “verbal consent” for the Black History Month activity but was told that the form must be signed or his child could not participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coral Way staff sent those forms home because the school district\u2019s attorney\u2019s office determined that in order to comply with the Parental Rights in Education law, guest speakers require parental permission forms, said the district\u2019s chief academic officer, Lourdes Diaz, at a Miami-Dade School Board meeting Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But state officials criticized the move, saying the policy is an \u201cabsurd\u201d interpretation of a state rule. Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr., responded on X<\/a> calling news of the permission slip a “hoax” that students in Florida need permission to learn about Black history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The incident appears to have arisen out of confusion over the Parental Rights in Education law,<\/a> signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 and expanded in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation bans classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in all public schools through 12th grade. The law’s supporters say it gives greater parental control over children\u2019s education; critics have dubbed it the “Don\u2019t Say Gay” law<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a press conference Thursday, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz and Gov. Ron DeSantis singled out the school as an example of how some local school officials have \u201cpoliticized\u201d state laws that they say are meant to empower parents to have more control over what their students learn in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the laws have led many schools to scramble as they try to make sure they are in compliance with some of the state board\u2019s regulations on classroom instruction. In Miami-Dade County, the district adopted a mass permission slip policy that has led to students needing parental approval before hearing guest speakers on subjects like African American history and the Holocaust. In Seminole County, parents have also been asked to sign permission slips for participation in Black History Month, according to a copy obtained and reviewed by the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Florida education officials zeroed in on the issue of permission slips after Walter\u2019s post on X garnered about 13 million views, 16,000 likes and nearly 4,000 reposts \u2014 and sparked ire among state officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DeSantis publicly commented on the matter for the first time at a press conference Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou had this incident in Miami, where there was this permission slip thing. It was absurd,\u201d he said. \u201cThe State Board immediately wrote a letter to the principal to say knock it off, stop with the nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n