VIRGINIA NEWS – Loudon County schools fund DEI initiatives despite federal action

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer 

Loudoun County Virginia’s Public Schools have committed to including funding for the school system’s Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) programs in its budget. Pushback from two of the county’s board members included concerns about how DEIA programs would make teh county vulnerable to losing federal funding. Before the 2026 fiscal budget was adopted board member Deana Griffiths proposed reallocating funds for DEIA programs to pay for special education teachers. The idea for this first came in response to President Trump’s executive order which banned diversity equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government. As part of a directive the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) temporarily paused agency grant and loan programs to ensure they didn’t violate the executive DEI order. Griffiths stated “We should follow through with reducing DEI department and taking that money and putting it toward much-needed teachers for special education,” She went on to say“I have had several booster groups, sports teams, theaters, bands, asking for supplemental money for trips that could be out of state or out of the country.” 

Griffiths said that the proposal would reduce the overall budget by over $2.8 million which could be used to fund 23 special education teachers.  Despite her plans for reallocation of funds, several other board members criticized the concept. Another board member Linda Deans said research shows that schools with DEI programs report higher student achievement and graduation rates. Deans went on to say that she would “refuse to hear any type of defunding, dismantling or taking away from DEIA,” Board member Sumera Rashid added. “Especially coming from a brown woman, myself, I find that diversity, all of what it stands for, is imminent to a child’s education.”