The state Department of Education has told school leaders they should review their district’s diversity and equity programs to ensure they comply with President Trump’s recent mandates prohibiting those programs at the federal level and limiting the federal government's recognition of gender to male and female.
“As recipients of federal funding, New Hampshire school districts should carefully review these executive orders,” said an advisory sent to school leaders Friday.
“(District) administrators and local school boards should carefully evaluate whether existing DEI-focused training, programs or curriculum materials utilized in their districts align with the new federal directives and consult with legal counsel to ensure that districts are complying with state and federal law,” it said.
The state advisory includes links to the Trump administration’s mandates and communications from the U.S. Department of Education. It also references recent action by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to rescind the Biden administration's book ban guidance and dismiss 11 complaints challenging book bans.
In its advisory, the department encouraged “all District leadership and local school boards to establish commonsense processes by which to evaluate and remove age-inappropriate materials and . . . to provide ‘a developmentally appropriate collection of resources.’ ”
The advisory does not provide school districts guidance on how to determine whether their programs comply or how the mandates, which largely apply to federal agencies and contractors, impact local schools.
Nor does the advisory address Trump’s mandate prohibiting transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams. Schools that don’t comply will lose federal funding, according to the mandate.
Transgender girls are already barred from playing on girls’ teams by New Hampshire law, though a federal judge has stayed the law in two districts where students are challenging it. Both the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in statements this week that they remained committed to defending the law.
Ayotte’s spokesperson, John Corbett, said she’s talking with the White House and state agencies as her office reviews the mandates.
The state education department’s advisory also does not mention another Trump mandate that prohibits teaching that certain groups of people are inherently biased. A 2021 New Hampshire law that carried the same prohibitions was overturned in May. The court said it was too vague and violated First Amendment rights. The state has appealed.
In its advisory, the Department of Education told school leaders it “remains committed to high-quality, inclusive education for all students.”
The new federal mandates have left the state’s school leaders uncertain about how to navigate the new rules.
Hanover superintendent Jay Badams ticked off a half dozen questions during a January 28 presentation on his district's diversity and equity strategic plan. Among them: How will transgender policies impact students and families ? Is the district’s diversity and equity work in jeopardy?
“All of those questions, they’re going to hit us, and we’ll be having conversations like this, I think, on a variety of topics through the remainder of this year and probably the next four,” Badams said. “I think we’re going to have a lot of legal bills just to get advice on things like compliance.”
Badams could not be reached Friday for comment on the new state advisory.
The New Hampshire Schools Association is advising boards and school administrators to work closely with their legal counsel to determine how the Trump mandates will impact their local school districts.
“Because many of these Executive Orders are subject to ongoing lawsuits and possible injunctions, it is difficult to provide clear legal guidance until these matters are ultimately resolved, most likely by the courts, or possibly by Congressional action,” said the association’s executive director, Barrett Christina.