After a memorandum ordering schools at all levels to eliminate diversity initiatives, local schools are confident their programs are nondiscriminatory and already comply with federal civil rights laws.
A memo sent on Feb. 14 by Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education ordered K-12 schools and higher education institutions to stop any practice that treats people differently because of their “race, color and national origin” or risk losing federal funding.
The memo required that schools eliminate any practices that could be considered discriminatory by Friday. There was no reporting to the federal education agency required in the memo, just that schools end discriminatory practices.
Background on the memo
The memo cited the landmark 2023 Supreme Court decision banning the use of race in college admissions, also known as affirmative action, as justification.
The court decision, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, overturned decades of precedent, determining that affirmative action programs in college admission processes violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in a 6-3 decision. The decision triggered changes in admission practices at institutions that had used race as a decision-making factor and sparked widespread debate over affirmative action policies and diversity programs and initiatives.
Chief Justice John Roberts said in the majority opinion admissions decisions should evaluate applicants as individuals rather than on race. In the dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argues the decision “exacerbates segregation” and ignores racial inequality.
Affirmative action is defined as a “set of procedures designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination among applicants, remedy the results of such prior discrimination and prevent discrimination in the future,” according to Cornell Law School.
Educational institutions that receive federal funding were already subject to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed racial discrimination. However, the Supreme Court’s 2023 holding applies more broadly, the memo says. The memo aims to end what it describes as “widespread discrimination” against white and Asian American students.
Educational institutions were advised to “ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law, cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means and cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race.”
The letter “provides notice of the department’s existing interpretation of federal law.” It says “The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”
The department will “vigorously enforce” the law to preschool, elementary, secondary and post-secondary educational institutions, as well as state educational agencies that receive federal assistance, the letter says.
Locals respond
Local K-12 schools get federal money largely through state grants awarded with federal money, while Franklin College gets federal dollars through federal loans and grants for tuition and room and board at the school. However, Franklin College and K-12 schools that have diversity programming in place already comply with the law, their leaders said.
Previously, some local schools including Clark-Pleasant and Franklin College had taken steps to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, by hiring employees focused on making all feel welcome on their campuses. In some cases, the schools have since changed the names of the positions, but efforts at inclusion are still ongoing within the boundaries of the federal laws on discrimination.
Clark-Pleasant’s Culture and Belonging initiatives are built around the school’s motto: “The Warrior Way—Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe.” The initiatives are meant to encourage students to be “their authentic selves,” accept others, show compassion and have empathy for their peers.
Clark-Pleasant is already compliant with the federal and state regulations, said Tim Edsell, superintendent.
“Our mission and vision is to truly treat all students with respect, dignity and understanding and yet still have high expectations of behavior and performance,” Edsell said.
Franklin College officials have analyzed its diversity, equity and inclusion activities to make sure they are not exclusionary, discriminatory or preferential. President Kerry Prather said he is confident the programming is geared toward inclusiveness and is not discriminatory.
The college’s Center of Diversity and Inclusion’s mission statement is “to be a catalyst, dedicated to engaging all cultural communities at Franklin College around the value of diversity. We aim to create an inclusive educational environment where understanding, dialogue and the free exchange of ideas are celebrated,” according to its website.
The college’s mission is to true to its mission of supporting students, faculty and staff through these inclusion efforts while complying with the law, Prather said.
“I’ve communicated to everybody in the campus community that those two things are not mutually exclusive at all,” Prather said. “We feel like we’re doing both and we will continue to.”
Franklin Community School Corp. is also monitoring communications from the U.S. Department of Education and has confirmed with the district’s legal counsel that they are fully compliant with federal laws and regulations.