More than 100 speakers lined up Tuesday night to comment on the Virginia Beach City Public School Board’s new policy eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion.
The meeting went past midnight. While some applauded the school board’s vote two weeks ago to implement the policy to retain federal funding, most disapproved of the decision.
Ten students spoke to oppose the rollback and explained how a school culture of inclusion has benefited them.
Miles Dillahunt, a senior at Kempsville High School, used a whiteboard to draw three stick figures of different heights who needed short or tall stools to see over a fence — a metaphor for equity and giving people different tools to succeed.
“I’m saying that DEI works,” Dillahunt said. “If I didn’t have the teachers that fought for me to have my headphone accommodation, I wouldn’t have been able to get the good grades that got me into college.”
Bryce DeAtley, a freshman at First Colonial High School, said his peers and teachers support him as a gay student, and asked the school board to take a cue from them.
Myla Sanderson, a senior at First Colonial High School who participates in clubs promoting diversity, said she spent years being “overlooked” as a Black student.
“Now the little bit of progress we’ve made is being erased,” she said, “and it hurts.”
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that promised to withhold federal funds from schools that do not eliminate DEI programs.
On April 8, board member David Culpepper introduced a resolution to rename the division’s Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and suspend an educational equity policy adopted by the board in 2020.
The school board approved the resolution the same day in a 6-3 vote. Two members were absent.
On Tuesday, supporters of the vote said schools should focus on academics, not students’ identities.
“No matter your background, your racial or economic status, if you have freckles or not,” said Teresa Langille, “two plus two will always equal four.”
The Department of Education requires K-12 schools to sign a document by Thursday certifying they are in compliance with federal law. The document states that some DEI programs that “advantage one race over another” can violate the Civil Rights Act, but does not give guidance about which types of programs would be considered illegal.
Joe Johnson, a First Colonial graduate, questioned the school board's decision, citing his high school ethics, law and government classes. He said the federal government allocates taxpayer money to fund schools, and a local representative approved it.
“This is our money. We paid for it. Jen Kiggans voted for it.” He questioned if Trump’s administration has legal grounds to withhold funding on the basis of what schools teach.
“These babies are doing their homework,” said James Hood Jr., a minister at New Hope Baptist Church, to the woman sitting next to him as Johnson spoke.
Drema L. Biron works at Salem High School and replied, “As a teacher, I’m proud.”
