District cites legal advice, fear of losing funds

The Haldane school board voted unanimously on Tuesday (April 22) to suspend its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy in hopes of safeguarding $450,000 in federal funding threatened by the Trump administration's opposition to DEI programs.

The district's resolution suspended the policy "pending clarification of the conflict between the respective positions of the state and federal governments regarding Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] and DEI."

The five-member board also approved a resolution certifying compliance with Title VI, which prohibits racial discrimination in federally funded programs. The Trump administration had set a Thursday (April 24) deadline for local school districts to eliminate "illegal DEI practices" or potentially lose funding.

However, on Thursday, a federal judge in New Hampshire temporarily blocked the administration's guidance forbidding DEI efforts in K-12 public schools. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, which accused the Republican administration of violating teachers' due process and First Amendment rights. On Friday, attorneys general from 18 states, including New York, sought a federal court order stopping the Department of Education from implementing the April 3 certification demand, calling it illegal and unconstitutional.

In February, the U.S. Education Department told schools and colleges they needed to end any practice that differentiates people based on their race or they would risk losing their federal funding. Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, issued a "Dear Colleague" letter arguing that a Supreme Court decision in 2023 banning race-based college admissions extended to DEI policies in public schools.

"DEI programs, for example, frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not," Trainor wrote. "Such programs stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes. Consequently, they deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of a school."

Earlier this month, the department ordered states to gather signatures from local districts certifying compliance with civil rights laws, including rejection of what the federal government calls "illegal DEI practices."

The directive did not carry the force of law but threatened to use civil rights enforcement to rid schools of DEI practices. Schools were warned that continuing such practices "in violation of federal law" could lead to U.S. Justice Department litigation and termination of federal grants and contracts.

At least 15 states, including New York, said they would not comply with the federal order. "We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems 'diversity, equity & inclusion,'" wrote Daniel Morton-Bentley, a lawyer for the New York Education Department. "But there are no federal or state laws prohibiting the principles of DEI." He added also that the federal government had "yet to define what practices it believes violate Title VI."

At Haldane, interim Superintendent Carl Albano called the federal dollars, which are used to educate students with disabilities, provide student lunches and fund other initiatives, "a significant amount of money" that "could be at risk if you keep these policies in place." He said that Haldane's legal counsel had advised suspending the DEI policy, at least temporarily.

The district adopted its DEI policy in December 2022 in "recognition of the inherent value of diversity and acknowledgement that educational excellence requires a commitment to equity in the opportunities provided to students and the resulting outcomes."

The policy noted that Haldane's mission is to prepare its students to succeed in "an ever-changing global society," a goal that requires incorporating a DEI l...