A controversial Miami private school that previously made headlines for its anti-vaccine views says it won't teach its students the "mainstream narrative" on COVID-19.
In a statement on its website, Centner Academy said that "instead of teaching students what to think, we teach them how to think."
The school said it won't "promote critical race theory, gender fluidity or the mainstream narrative surrounding COVID, all hot topics that many schools are now choosing to teach as factual rather than as the theories they are."
In June, the Florida State Board of Education banned the teaching of critical race theory.
Centner added, "As our world continues to shift rapidly, we have now found ourselves in a time of more controlled messaging from the media and unprecedented censorship in the United States. The repeated messaging from the media shapes cultural norms and the way we view social and cultural issues. Rather than jump on board with the mass media's storyline, we challenge our students to question, research, analyze and consider issues from multiple perspectives before coming to their own conclusions."
During the pandemic, Centner made headlines when it threatened to penalize teachers and staff who got the COVID-19 vaccine and later, briefly, required vaccinated students to quarantine for 30 days before returning to school.
The academy made unsubstantiated statements about the vaccine, including the claim that those who aren't vaccinated could have adverse reactions simply by interacting with those who are vaccinated.
The school has about 300 students ranging from pre-K to eighth grade spread across three campuses in the Miami Design District. Depending on the grade level, full-time tuition costs from $22,000 to $30,000 a year per student.
According to its website, Centner offers students and their families "medical freedom from mandated vaccines."
The school said that "rather than helping children's immune systems, there is a large belief in the United States that the excess of mandatory vaccines is actually damaging them."
Centner added, "There is no one size fits all to vaccines. This is why we follow the Florida law and allow our parents to complete a medical or religious exemption form to opt out of the school vaccination program."