Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Suffolk School Board will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, April 23, to discuss a letter from the Virginia Department of Education regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and procedures.

The VDOE letter came after the US Department of Education issued its own letter stating all DEI efforts in violation of Title VI must stop immediately or schools risk losing some of their federal funding.

Suffolk Public Schools risk losing nearly $10 million of federal funding if the letter is not signed by Wednesday.

During the April 10 School Board meeting, Gordon said it is his intention to sign the letter because of a “fiscal responsibility.”

He said the only policy that may need to be reviewed and edited is the current equity policy, which Board Attorney Wendell Waller encouraged the Policy Review Committee to discuss during its April 21 meeting.