JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County School Board voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday night to remove all mentions of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs from its business enterprise policy. This decision has sparked a heated debate among board members, parents, and community members regarding the support for minority and women-owned businesses.
The policy change involves crossing out several pages of the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program, a move that Chief Legal Counsel Ray Poole said was necessary to comply with an executive order from President Trump aimed at eliminating DEI initiatives.
“In trying to predict what the administration would do, the administration, I think, would view us as being non-compliant at this point,” Poole said.
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Despite the removal of DEI language, the board assured that these businesses would still be supported under different categories.
District 7 Board Member Melody Bolduc emphasized that the businesses would be seamlessly integrated into new categories.
“Ms. Wright, who I believe is the head of this department, assured us that even though we are changing the categories to be in alignment, she has already checked to make sure that the businesses that we work for that are minority-owned and female-owned businesses will fit beautifully and neatly into these two categories,” Bolduc said.
However, the decision has been met with criticism from parents and community members who feel the change is premature.
“This is an over-compliance issue. As people have said, this particular executive order is being chipped away already in the federal courts. We do not need to jump the gun here and over-comply just for the sake of compliance,” Mandy Rubin said.
Erin Sharer, another concerned parent, expressed that eliminating this section is not neutral. “It’s a step backwards. It ignores history. It silences progress, and it fails the young people we claim to serve,” Sharer said.
District 4 Board Member Darryl Willie, the lone dissenting vote, voiced his disappointment, highlighting a promise made to support these businesses when the half-penny sales tax was passed. “I’m just disappointed that we have to sort of operate in this state of fear instead of leading with what we thought, what we know, was working and going well,” he said.
Ray Poole mentioned that if the legal landscape changes, the board could revisit this policy while ensuring compliance with equal protection laws.
As the district navigates these changes, the community remains engaged in discussions about the implications for minority and women-owned businesses and the broader impact on DEI initiatives in the school system.
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