Students at a suburban St. Louis school district can continue to take elective Black history courses, school leaders announced Thursday in a reversal of a vote last week by the conservative-led school board to end the classes.

But the Francis Howell School District board first must approve a new curriculum “that is rigorous and largely politically neutral,” the board president and superintendent said in a statement Thursday to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“After thorough discussions, we believe there is an appropriate path forward to offer Black History and Black Literature with an updated curriculum standard in the 2024-2025 school year,” board President Adam Bertrand and Superintendent Kenneth Roumpos said.

The Francis Howell School District board voted 5-2 last week to stop offering Black History and Black Literature courses that had been offered at the district’s three high schools since 2021. A little over 100 students took the courses this semester in the predominantly white suburban area of St. Louis.