CHARLESTON COUNTY, SC (WCSC) – The Charleston County School Board has voted to approve an honors course in African-American studies after the state voted to eliminate it.

The Charleston County School District Board of Directors voted Thursday to approve the locally designed elective course “African American Studies.”

The curriculum would be structured as an honors course and would count as an elective for students.

In June, the state Department of Education decided to remove AP African American Studies from course offerings for the 2024–2025 school year, meaning students will not be able to earn college credit for the course, unlike other Advanced Placement courses.

The decision came after South Carolina offered AP African American Studies as a pilot program in some public schools for two years. The agency said the reason for the elimination was the controversy surrounding the course.

The state Department of Education left it up to individual districts to offer the course at an honors level below AP.

The proposed curriculum would teach students about early African kingdoms up to the present day.

One hundred students from the school district have expressed interest, and 40 Academic Magnet students have already signed up to take the course in the fall.

It is currently not known when this class will take place.

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