That was fast. The City Schools of Decatur’s board of education voted unanimously Tuesday to reinstate some equity policies that it had repealed exactly two weeks ago.
The board’s decision was in response to rulings by three federal judges last week as the judges temporarily stopped the Trump administration’s mandate for K-12 schools to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Earlier this month, the Trump administration directed school districts to certify that they would comply with the order or forgo federal funding.
However, judges in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and New Hampshire all ruled that the way the administration enacted the policy was probably illegal. The rulings came in lawsuits filed by the NAACP, national teachers’ unions and other groups.
Decatur’s school board voted on April 15 to rescind two policies called Equity and School Board Governance. The equity policy states, “All learning environments must be inclusive, safe, secure, and supportive while also ensuring that no student group is marginalized.” The board also amended three policies on equal employment opportunities, equal educational opportunities and gender equity in sports.
Decatur police removed parent Lena Kotler from the April 15 meeting. Kotler, who came to speak against the board’s decision, interrupted the meeting by calling board members “cowards” for complying with the order.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the board considered adding conditional language to the policies that would comply with Trump’s order should the injunctions be lifted. However, they ultimately decided to restore the policies as they are.
Board Chair Carmen Sulton expressed concern that reinstating the policies could cause problems with state officials.
“The state has some thoughts about using language like ‘bias training’, and some of that language may be present in (our) equity policy,” she said. “There are some policies that are passing through the state legislature about gender equity and sports. So if we bring these policies back … then there are directives from the state … does that mean that we would have to be on a fast track to then subsequently amend them?”
A state bill that mirrored Trump’s order failed to pass the General Assembly this year, but on Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp signed the Riley Gaines Act, which bars transgender girls and women from competing in girls’ sports.
President Donald Trump has taken aim at DEI programs during his first 100 days in office. He has signed executive orders calling for the elimination of DEI programs in federal agencies, the private sector and colleges and universities. His administration froze more than $2 billion in federal funds at Harvard University after school leaders refused to comply with policy revisions, including eliminating DEI programs.
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