Columbus City Schools quietly dissolves its Equity Department

Yahoo

4 days ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Despite still appearing on its website, Columbus City Schools has shuttered its Equity Department.
According to Columbus City Schools chief of staff and interim communications director Mike De Fabbo, the district no longer has an Equity Department. Although the webpage and staffing is still listed under CCS' departments online, De Fabbo said the website is being updated and the services the Equity Department offered have been folded into a new team.
'Our attendance, climate and culture, restorative practices and social emotional learning work is now part of our Whole Child Supports team aligned to our board guardrail to prioritize a whole child focus,' De Fabbo said.
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The Whole Child Supports Department works to improve students' social, physical, cognitive and emotional development by facilitating collaborations between public health and education. It is one of four Board of Education guardrails, or strategic operational actions the superintendent must guide the district by.
The Department of Equity was created in 2020 and grew from a one-person department to a team of people working to create culturally responsive and inclusive classrooms. The department was led by Yolanda Stewart, a former CCS Educator of the Year with more than 20 years of experience in education. Stewart received her Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 2015 in educational policy and leadership, and joined the district in 2001.
According to district appropriations data, the district spent $144,550 a month on the Office of Equity, which still received funding in May. The Whole Child Supports team does not have its own fund, but student support services, special education and accountability services have combined funds and receive around $7.5 million.
On April 17, Superintendent Angela Chapman and school board spokesperson Jennifer Adair jointly said the district would comply with a federal mandate to affirm the district's compliance with Title VI by not engaging in 'illegal DEI practices.' At the time, Chapman and the Board of Education affirmed their compliance but said they were not making changes, as 'illegal DEI' was not defined.
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'At Columbus City Schools, we remain deeply committed to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all students, families, teachers and staff,' Chapman and Adair wrote.
CCS still intends to participate in the Columbus Pride March on June 14, according to its website. The district has reaffirmed its commitment to transgender and gender variant students and the LGBTQ+ community publicly. Most recently, the district affirmed this after it reverted all students' names to their birth names, which parents said 'outed' several students, including some with legal name changes. See previous coverage of this decision in the video player above.
NBC4 asked what would happen to the Equity Department's employees but did not receive a response. Although the Equity page says the department grew to a group of people, only Stewart was still listed as of publication. Stewart's LinkedIn indicates she still works at CCS, but only lists her current and past positions as 'educator' or 'strategist' with no details about a possible change in role.
School board documents and meeting agendas also did not indicate a change for Stewart, and did not exhibit a shuttering of the Equity Department, according to detailed searches of board documents from 2025.
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