The unknown can be scary, and for some North Texas parents at a school in Mansfield the unknown has become upsetting.
The district had a plan to incorporate learning about Arabic language and culture at, at least one school. Parents just recently learned about the plans and they're not happy.
The Mansfield ISD plans to use grant money to start a program that would look at almost every subject at the school from an Arabic perspective, but Monday was the first time they've explained it to parents. The superintendent of the district says their goal was to focus on the development of the curriculum before they actually rolled the program out to parents.
Parents are upset because no one has shown them what information will be taught.
A major concern is that Arabic culture cannot be taught without including Islam, but the district says they will teach culture but will stay away from teaching religion.
For now, the program is on indefinite hold for grades k through 6, but middle and high school students will be allowed to take Arabic as a foreign language elective course.
