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During the April 10 School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. John B. Gordon III said he intends to sign the letter from the Virginia Department of Education stating that all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in violation of Title VI must stop immediately if schools wish to continue receiving certain federal funding. The letter from VDOE comes after the United States Department of Education issued its own letter on April 3, 2025.

The letter was discussed after Board Member Tyron Riddick requested it be added to the Board’s agenda at the beginning of the meeting.

Gordon must sign the letter by April 23 to continue receiving nearly $10 million in federal funding. 

“It is my intent to sign it because of that fiscal responsibility,” Gordon said.

Gordon made it clear that SPS would not be able to make up for this loss of funds if the division were to lose them. The money would have to come from the city.

He said this situation is “very fluid” and “extremely concerning” because several school divisions have had their federal funds frozen — Baltimore City, Maryland; Prince George, Maryland; and some divisions in California.

Gordon said there has been no other information about a process to appeal or how to ask questions. 

“There is a lot of fear attached to this because if one school division or staff member or anything, if it can be interpreted as a violation, then what does that do to that school division?” he said. “Unfortunately, all we have is the letter saying, ‘Sign this or lose your money.’”

During the April 10 School Board meeting, Gordon said he spoke with 50 other superintendents who had not yet signed the letter. He added that some of his colleagues are requesting their School Board Chair to sign the letter out of fear of termination if something “goes wrong” related to DEI.

Riddick mentioned signing the letter would mean changing the Board’s mission statement and five-year strategic plan.

“I just want to point out to the Board that if we comply with this we will have to strike the word from ‘highly qualified and diverse staff’ from our mission statement and our current strategic plan,” Riddick said, “which is designed to go after highly qualified and diverse staff.” 

Gordon said from the guidance he’s received so far, he does not believe the mission statement or strategic plan will have to be rewritten to avoid the word “diverse.”

“The entire basis of the letter was that decisions were being made based on race,” Gordon said. “So a diverse staff could also be people who are bilingual, a diverse staff could be individuals that have different skills.”

Since signing the letter acknowledges that the division is in compliance with its requests, Board Member Kimberly Slingluff asked what needs to be done by April 23 to ensure compliance and avoid losing funding.

Gordon thinks the only thing that needs to be reviewed is the current equity policy and suggested the Policy Review Committee add it to their April 21 meeting agenda. He is “100% positive no decision in Suffolk has been made based on diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

“It can’t just be that we are eliminating the word, that’s what a lot of people believe,” he said. “With us, I think we’re going to be okay. That’s why I’m publicly telling you that I’m comfortable signing it.”     

Board Attorney Wendell Waller said depending on what is found in the equity policy, there may need to be an additional board meeting to address policy changes.   

Gordon said the Virginia Department of Education should provide additional guidance, which he will share with the Board.