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Diversity and equity initiatives in Henrico County Public Schools are here to stay, according to school system officials, despite worries that the new state administration will dismantle efforts to promote cultural and racial diversity.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on his first day in office to end the use of inherently divisive concepts in K-12 education, but state officials have not yet given school divisions guidance about the order.
The order directed Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction to compile a report of programs from the state’s education department that “promote discriminatory and divisive concepts, such as critical race theory.”
The report from state Superintendent Jillian Balow, released last month, effectively removed almost every diversity and equity-focused resource on the education department’s website. The now-rescinded resources were not mandated and did not include directives for classroom teachers or recommended student reading. Some resources from the EdEquityVA initiative included frameworks about how to close the academic achievement gaps that exist between different demographics of students.
In a letter to Ballow, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents said the state administration made “gross assumptions… without evidentiary support” in the development of the report.
The letter, written by VASS Executive Director Howard Kiser, said that superintendents should have been consulted in the making of the report, and that division superintendents disagree with the scrapping of the equity-focused work from the VDOE that “had been completed by many quality educators over a number of years to provide support for the success of children in underserved communities and in select population groups.”
Kiser said in the letter that it was written on behalf of all 133 public school division superintendents, however he later clarified that the letter was crafted by the VASS' 12 member board and doesn’t necessarily reflect a consensus among all of its members.
Balow’s report and Youngkin’s executive order have raised concerns about the future of HCPS’ office of equity, diversity and opportunity. The office was formed about four years ago, weeks after a high-profile alleged incident in which an HCPS middle school student was sexually battered and tormented with racial slurs on school grounds.
The EDO leads several initiatives in HCPS aimed at promoting a sense of belonging among students. The office develops professional learning plans for educators, works on staff retention, and leads student initiatives (such as the Equity Ambassadors program, which earned a "Best Achievement" 2021 award from the Virginia Association of Counties).
Superintendent Amy Cashwell told the Citizen on Thursday that she doesn’t anticipate having to make changes to the school division’s equity initiatives as a result of the new state administration.
At a Henrico School Board work session Mar. 10, board member Roscoe Cooper III (the school board's representative on the Equity and Diversity Advisory Committee) asked how Balow’s report will impact the EDO.
Monica Manns, who leads the EDO, said that her office’s work is based upon the school division’s 2025 strategic plan, which was developed with input from the community.
“It is my belief that we are doing the work that is asked of us by our county,” Manns said at the meeting Thursday. “I don’t want to say it’s not in alignment with the state because I do not know what the state is actually saying that the divisive concepts are.”
Since school divisions have not received any direction from the state, the executive order remains largely murky despite the recent report. State officials did not respond to questions from the Citizen on Friday.
Equity, diversity and opportunity are infused throughout the school system's entire strategic plan, Brookland District school board member Kristi Kinsella said at Thursday's meeting.
“I don't see us deviating from what we're doing, as there's nothing toxic or inflammatory or political or divisive about it,” Kinsella said. “I don't see a way, given the work, given our commitment, how it's infused in every aspect of what we do in Henrico Schools.”
Manns said that she has generally not received any negative feedback regarding the work of EDO but that there is “tons of uncomfortability.”
“One thing that I always tell people is that if you're always comfortable that you're never growing. The uncomfortability of the conversation lends to your personal growth,” she said. “My goal is never to make anyone feel bad or to somehow make them feel less than. My goal is to always say, ‘let's just let's sit in this uncomfortability, let's think through it, and then what can we learn from that.’”
Editor's note: This story was updated March 14 to reflect Kiser's clarification on who wrote the letter.
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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.
