Latest news with #EducationalOpportunityandAchievement
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Virginia Beach School Board votes to officially end DEI initiatives
VIRGINIA BEACH — School board members in Virginia Beach voted 6-5 to officially end diversity and inclusion initiatives in the school district. Specifically, the board has spent several meetings discussing updates to Policy 5-4, formerly known as 'Educational Equity.' The policy had previously included several sections and references to 'diversity,' 'inclusion,' 'implicit bias,' 'cross-cultural' and 'equity.' All of those references are now removed, and Policy 5-4 is renamed to 'Educational Opportunity and Achievement.' But what the policy change will mean in practice has yet to be hashed out. A couple of school board members said it is unclear how certain clubs or student groups could be affected. At Tuesday night's meeting, about 20 residents spoke during public comment, many of whom were students and parents. While many of the speakers were in support of continuing diversity initiatives within Virginia Beach, a couple speakers were concerned about 'indoctrination' and how diversity initiatives were divisive. Student speakers said they are concerned LGBTQ, female or minority students could lose support and resources at their schools as a result of the new policy. Board members Michael Callan, David Culpepper, Carolyn Weems, Kathleen Brown, Mark Bohenstiel and Rose Dwyer voted to remove DEI from school policy. Matt Cummings, Sharon Felton, Kimberly Melnyk, Alveta Green and Melinda Rogers voted against the change in policy. Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued directives threatening to cut federal funding for public schools with DEI programs, and the vote marks the fourth time the board has considered the future of DEI policies. Currently, there is no plan to reverse the change if federal directives are deemed unconstitutional. The board first voted to remove DEI policies from its schools on April 8 so the school system could continue receiving its federal funds. Since then, more than 100 members of the public have spoken during public comment at meetings. Earlier this month, some of the board members who wanted to continue DEI initiatives called a special meeting after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's directives. That vote failed to pass, which led to DEI efforts being on the chopping block again Tuesday night. Before the official vote, Brown, who is chair of the board, proposed adding a single sentence to the new policy, which would have stated that the board 'values the diversity in our students, families, staff and volunteers.' That proposal failed 6-5, with Cummings, Felton, Melnyk, Green, Bohenstiel and Rogers voting against adding the sentence. 'I don't think the public wants just a sentence to satisfy them. I think they want genuine work being done,' Rogers said. 'I think they want actual diversity, equity and inclusion in our schools. And I think it's really an almost cheap parlor trick to throw in a sentence at the last minute as a 'Here guys, this will satisfy you,' when it's not genuine.' What is and is not allowed hasn't been defined yet — which has put schools in a difficult position. The U.S Department of Education put out a notice April 3, following a 'Dear Colleague' letter in February that asserted DEI practices were discriminatory in nature, citing the Supreme Court case that ended affirmative action. Since then, the Department of Education has opened numerous investigations into public school districts, including in Fairfax County. While schools are trying to follow federal guidance, they also have to ensure that they are meeting Virginia's guidelines, which might conflict with the federal government's demand. This leaves board members and educators in a position where they're unsure if certain multicultural events, clubs and special education instructional content can continue. Since the initial vote, multiple webpages referring to diversity have been deleted. The school system's DEI Department's webpage, as well as another webpage cataloging the division's 'diverse history' are gone. Eliza Noe,
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Virginia Beach board votes to keep suspension of DEI in place
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Beach School Board voted 6-5 Tuesday to move forward with its initial vote to suspend diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This is the third vote the board has taken on the matter. 'I want to thank the public for coming to the school board meetings repeatedly to voice your overwhelming support for our educational practices that support all students in our division,' District 5 board member Melinda Rogers said in a Facebook post on the vote. 'While the board majority voted in favor to remove needed supports, I will continue to work to support ALL staff and students, including listening to my constituents and educating myself in the policies and data that best support our community so I can make informed decisions on the dais.' Rogers posted her statement above a worded image that states: 'Diversity is a fact. Equity is a choice. Inclusion is an action. Belonging is an outcome.' With little notice, the board first adopted a resolution to suspend DEI initiatives in school division programs and curriculums at an April 9 meeting. VB board adopts resolution to suspend DEI initiatives That initial vote came after the Trump administration's Jan. 29 executive order to cut federal education funding for schools who refuse to drop diversity, equity and inclusion programs. On April 3, K-12 schools throughout the country received a notice stating they had just 10 days to certify they would comply with the executive order. The resolution passed stated that it is 'to comply with legal obligations in exchange for receiving federal financial assistance.' Virginia Beach City Public Schools receives more than $74 million in federal funding. At a May 6 meeting, a vote to amend the resolution resulted in a stalemate — with District 8 board member David Culpepper absent — leaving the original decision intact, but it forced a third vote on the the matter Tuesday. After more debate, the board voted around 11:30 p.m. to keep its original decision intact, turning aside the motion to amend the resolution, with members Michael Callan, Culpepper, Carolyn Weems, Kathleen Brown, Mark Bohenstiel and Rose Dwyer voting against the motion, while Matt Cummings, Sharon Felton, Kim Melnyk, Dr. Alveta Green and Melinda Rogers voted in favor of amending the resolution. The decision to suspend DEI initiatives in the school division has continued to divide staffers, students and parents, and has been met with backlash from many in the community who say DEI is vital to school programs and school frameworks. Though the board voted to keep the suspension of DEI initiatives in place, school board attorney Kamala Lannetti said more information on what changes will be made to school programs and offerings will come in future meetings. Some of those changes will come in division frameworks. For example, one of its policies, the Educational Equity policy, could be retitled to Educational Opportunity and Achievement. And words such as diversity and equity would be removed from the policy altogether. Changes would also come to the school division's Compass to 2025 and Compass to 2030 strategic frameworks, removing words like equity and replacing the word diverse with a phrase like, 'a wide range.' The board expects to hear more and possibly vote on policy changes at its May 27 meeting. agendaDownload Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
