VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Tuesday night a special Virginia Beach school board meeting was held to go over court challenges President Trump's executive order faces on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies in schools along with a motion to pause the current resolution in place at Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS).
As the meeting began Tuesday night, those in attendance heard more on how this executive order has already been challenged in several federal courts due to its vagueness.
During the public comment period, citizens on both sides of the resolution voiced their concerns, many of whom had attended two weeks ago and expressed their frustration over a vote on this resolution without any public hearing.
Some school leaders argued that not pausing this resolution would harm students who are already disadvantaged.
“Many of you have never experienced in your long lives what six-year-olds in our division have already experienced, and to be so cruel has clearly brought me to tears,” Kim Melnyk, who represents District 2, said.
While other school leaders felt that DEI policies do not adequately push students to reach their potential.
“It serves as an example of what has become one of the euphemisms that has become associated with DEI and that's the lowering of standards," Michael Callan, who represents District 6, said. "I don’t think it’s leading us in the direction that we need to go, and for that reason, I am still in support of this issue of removing DEI."
Ultimately, the board voted 5-5, effectively knocking down the motion to pause the current DEI resolution.
"I think everybody is holding their breath at the moment," Heather Sipe with the Virginia Beach Education Association, said after Tuesday's meeting.
Sipe said that's how a lot of teachers feel right now about the current resolution, in part because of the lack of details.
"You need to pause and soon resend," Sipe said to the school board Tuesday night.
With the current resolution in place, several changes have already occurred, including the renaming of the Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at VBCPS.
If you take a look at the school board chambers you'll notice something is also missing from the walls.
"Every single school that had our 2025 strategic plan, those plans have been removed from every single building in the division per our resolution," Melinda Rogers, who represents District 5, said.
Rogers was one of the members who called the special meeting last week.
It comes as President Trump's executive order which the resolution is based on faces legal challenges in court.
That includes one legal challenge in New Hampshire where a court ruling found the order too vague.
As well as a potential violation of 1st Amendment rights if federal funding was taken away.
"The concepts of vagueness were identified in multiple cases and I think we owe it to our kids to our community and our stakeholders, good policy, and from a board member I want to be presented with clear terms," Matt Cummings who represents District 7, said.
While those injunctions play out in court, next week we may learn more details as to what revisions may come to the school division's education equity policy.
Meanwhile, Wednesday night Rogers held a town hall at Princess Anne Middle School to speak with families on what is known so far about this change and what is being done at schools.
