Editor’s notes: Minutes before publication time, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s push to cut funding to K-12 public schools over DEI programs.

“As for the judge’s ruling, we are still asking for attestations to be sent by the deadline and we will await the outcome of the legal process,” AZED spokesman Doug Nick told InMaricopa Thursday afternoon.

Shawnté Rothschild, the only person of color on the school board, was the only member who didn’t attend last night’s meeting.

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The Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board last night voted to authorize its superintendent to sign a federal assurance form required by the Arizona Department of Education. The form assures the district’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and related federal laws after a new directive warned schools nationwide to stop using racial preferences and stereotypes or risk losing federal funding.

It is a “Dear Colleague” letter, issued April 3 by the U.S. Department of Education, which instructs schools that receive federal funds to eliminate race-based considerations in areas such as admissions, hiring, scholarships and disciplinary actions.

It is commonly known as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI. The guidance prohibits “race-conscious” policies.

“Given the text of Title VI and the assurances you have already given, any violation of Title VI — including the use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (“DEI”) programs to advantage one’s race over another — is impermissible,” reads the letter.

This is the same document that Harvard refused to sign, leading the Trump administration to withhold funding. Maricopa does not have the same multi-billion-dollar endowment to rely upon. If MUSD didn’t sign the required agreement, a projected $13 million in federal funds would be withheld. That represents more than 12% of the district’s $108 million budget, according to the most recent data available.

That includes an estimated $5 million in student meals and money relied on for staffing and services.

If MUSD didn’t sign the agreement, it would result in people losing jobs, said school board member Ben Owens.

“This is something that I have wrestled with for weeks,” said Owens before voting to approve the letter. “We don’t have a lot of really good options with this.”

The board members criticized the vague language of the letter, saying they didn’t know exactly what they were signing, as the district already complies with Title VI.

“Do I like to be forced into something that I’m not sure I totally understand because it’s so vague? No,” said board member Patti Coutré, “but I can’t risk not being able to give all our students everything they need and an education to succeed.”

Before signing, Board President Robert Downey read a statement saying that the board could not guarantee compliance with the undefined “DEI” in the letter.

“Terms used in the certification form, such as ‘DEI’ and ‘illegal DEI’ are not defined in the document, and as such the district cannot attest to compliance with the unknown,” said Downey, reading from a statement written by the district attorney.

“We all had a little bit of, ‘What are we really signing?'” Downey told InMaricopa after the meeting. “We want to reflect our concern about the wording, and I’ll be careful how I say this, we’ve been feeling that we have to do this knowing that we don’t have all the information. Something could be hidden in there. Something else may come down the pipeline in two weeks’ time.”

The April 3 directive from the federal Education Department, an agency that has been ordered to dismantle, mandates that all school districts submit signed documentation by April 24 in order to maintain access to federal grant funds.

As of Thursday morning, 551 districts and charters of Arizona’s 658 had signed the letter.

The MUSD board took nearly two hours to discuss this issue in a private session, coming out after 10 p.m. to announce they would sign the letter.

“I don’t like the position that we’re in. It feels like there’s no good option. And I don’t like it when people use children as a means to a very vague end,” said board member Carolyn Lopez.

Educators came before the board last night and begged them not to sign the letter.

“This is not a simple reaffirmation of civil rights. This document is vague, political and deeply concerning,” said educator Staci Hayes. “If signed, it could be used to dismantle equity-focused programs and silence educators who are doing exactly what we’ve been called to do: support, affirm and uplift all students.

“It tells our community that our students’ identities are too controversial to be supported,” Hayes said.

“Our principles and values should not be for sale,” said MUSD employee Amanda McVay. “How can that possibly be done if we deny the existence of our diverse student population? If we neglect to ensure that all children have equitable access to education and fail to establish the inclusive environment necessary for learning? That’s impossible.

“If we sign the certification, we send a message that fear matters more than belonging, that politics matter more than people,” Hayes said.

As the meeting went late into the night, all but four educators left. As the board members explained why they were signing it, some teachers openly wept. Those educators declined comment.

When asked if any districts had refused to sign the letter, Arizona Department of Education spokesman Doug Nick said the agency wouldn’t release that information prior to the Thursday deadline.

Should a district not sign the letter, the money will still come to the state, but it would not funnel down from the Arizona Department of Education.

“AZED is supposed to withhold the money,” said Nick. “Our agency is the pass-through for federal dollars and we’re obligated to withhold per their guidance.”

To critics who say this is Washington bureaucrats telling school districts how to handle their curriculum, Nick says it’s the same as any other federal funding, like transportation or public health dollars.

“As with all federal funding, the recipient is obligated to use the money as required by federal law if they want that funding.”

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is praising the recent directive from the U.S. Department of Education. ​

“I am glad the world is catching up to me,” Horne said in January. “In 2007, I opposed the Ethnic Studies program in the Tucson district because it was based on racial discrimination using Critical Race Theory. In recent years, the use of CRT and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs have embedded discriminatory practices and attitudes among our school children. This is unacceptable.”​

Since taking office two years ago, Horne has mandated that recipients of state education funds affirm they do not implement DEI practices. Additionally, he requires public schools to disclose on their report cards whether they avoid concepts like Critical Race Theory and protect instructional time from distractions labeled as Social Emotional Learning, according to the AZ Department of Education website.​

In his recent State of Education address, Horne emphasized the importance of individual merit over racial considerations. “The focus on racial entitlements does nothing to encourage hard work, conscientiousness or creativity,” he stated. “If our country adopts that philosophy, we will become a mediocre, third-world nation.”​

A Pew Research poll was published this week finding a majority of Americans disapprove of the Trump admiration’s actions to end DEI policies.

In Downey’s four years at MUSD, he said this was the longest debate over any topic he’s had.