Arizona Department of Education says school district may lose federal funding over DEI policies

PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Education says the Kyrene Elementary School District could have $1.5 million of federal funding withheld due to its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

An ADE statement warns all Arizona schools should be on notice of similar action.

The department is pinning this potential withholding of funds on a DEI crackdown in the federal government and U.S. Department of Education under President Trump.

“We’re letting them know,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “The federal government tells us what school to give how much money, so we’re going to follow their instructions.”

The statement from ADE focuses on a DEI measure passed at an April 8 meeting.

However, in a press conference after the ADE statement, Kyrene governing board president Kevin Walsh says there was no new DEI policy approved that day.

The district is considering a “Staff Social Emotional Wellness Policy,” which was approved through a first read at the meeting and will likely become policy soon.

“But even if we were to adopt that policy, we do not believe supporting our staff’s social and emotional wellness runs afoul of anything in federal law,” Walsh said.

The district does have a policy containing the phrase “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,” that was approved last year.

Part of that policy states:

“This educational and workplace policy establishes that each student, family, employee, and stakeholder should have a sense of belonging within our District, without bias or discrimination.”

Walsh also emphasizes both last year’s DEI policy and the potential staff wellness policy were formed with community support.

But Horne says community support or not, since the federal government is cracking down on DEI, there will be consequences for schools who “endorse” it.

While Horne says this is solely an action from the federal government that he is communicating, he’s voiced his own opposition to DEI.

“Diversity means stereotyping people … Equity calls for equal results by race and inclusion is inclusion only of governmentally favored races,” Horne said.

Walsh says Kyrene Elementary School policies around DEI are not discriminatory

“To the contrary, we firmly believe that our policies advance the civil rights act,” Walsh said. “That talks about not making any discriminatory practices based on race, that’s what our entire policy in practice are about.”

On Saturday, Rep. Greg Stanton also released a statement in support of the Kyrene Elementary School District.

“Tom Horne is threatening to defund Kyrene’s Title I schools to score cheap political points — withholding money that Congress appropriated on a bipartisan basis. It’s a boneheaded move that’ll only hurt Arizona students,” Stanton said in a press release.

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