Residents concerned about the Virginia Beach school board’s recent vote to suspend diversity, equity and inclusion programs plan to speak at Tuesday’s meeting about how the changes will be implemented.
Last week, the board voted 6-3 to suspend the programs so that they could continue receiving federal funds. The school division faces a Thursday federal deadline to comply with an executive order that characterizes DEI programs as “radical indoctrination” in schools.
School Board Chair Kathleen Brown said the public will be involved in future discussions about the new policy. Attendees at a Virginia Beach NAACP town hall on April 14 said they would attend Tuesday’s meeting to oppose it.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to withhold funding from schools with DEI policies. The Department of Education requires K-12 schools to sign a document by Thursday certifying they have removed the programs.
Some school board members said the vote was essential to retaining the millions in federal funding the division receives each year, while others called the executive order “extortion.”
“Do you really believe that if this resolution is executed, there will not be more shakedowns from the federal government that will promote a reversion to segregated schools?” board member Alveta Green asked her colleagues.
Board member Matt Cummings introduced a motion to delay the vote until Tuesday to give the public time to weigh in, but it was voted down. The resolution was introduced at the April 8 meeting with little notice to board members or the public, and it was not listed on the agenda.
The division receives a little less than 10% of its annual budget from the federal government, with $118 million in revenue listed in last year’s budget and $104 million listed this year.
The board’s recent vote directs the superintendent to rename the Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Department of Opportunity and Achievement. The division has removed pages dedicated to the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from its website.
The resolution also suspends an educational equity policy adopted by the school board in 2020, meant to bridge long-standing equity gaps in student achievement.
There may be other changes to the curriculum and school programs.
The changes at the K-12 level follow colleges and universities in Virginia rolling back DEI policies. The University of Virginia was among the first in the state to do so, with George Mason University and Old Dominion University following suit.
