Some Philly-area schools are sticking with DEI, despite Trump’s orders

As President Donald Trump attacks diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and threatens to strip funding from schools that promote “discriminatory equity ideology,” the Phoenixville Area School District has been analyzing everything from its curriculum to after-school activities to see what might run afoul of the new administration’s orders.

But it hasn’t made any changes. “The way we’re fighting back is what we’re not doing,” said Scott Overland, president of the Phoenixville school board. Trump is trying “to bully us into compliance,” Overland, a Democrat, said. “We need to show him that he’s wrong.”

Colleges have been wiping diversity initiatives from websites and overhauling policies as Trump halts their federal funding and pushes to dismantle DEI efforts. But signs of compliance are less evident in K-12 schools around Philadelphia — and some school leaders say they’re carrying on as normal.

That’s partly because many rely less on federal money: Unlike universities, public schools are largely supported by local and state taxes. Some local officials have also noted they’re navigating conflicts between Trump’s orders and state law, including existing antidiscrimination rules in Pennsylvania.

Trump’s administration has launched investigations into at least two non-Pennsylvania school districts, including the Ithaca City School District in New York, where a complaint alleged that a district event for students of color “reflected systemic discrimination against white students.”

It’s also investigating Denver Public Schools for converting a girls bathroom into a nonbinary bathroom — though that district hasn’t backed away from policies affirming students questioning their gender identities, said Jeffrey Sultanik, a solicitor for numerous Pennsylvania school districts.

“So far, few Pennsylvania public schools seem to be rushing to change their policies and practices,” Sultanik said. But he noted there is “increased concern” about an effort launched by the Trump administration — titled “End DEI” — inviting people to submit online complaints about specific schools.

“I suspect that many K-12 districts in Pennsylvania are trying to quietly conduct their business without drawing too much attention to a federal government algorithm” that may lead to an investigation, Sultanik said.

Schools also face uncertainty around what exactly would violate Trump’s orders. In a lawsuit challenging a February “Dear Colleague” letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights that warned schools against discriminating on the basis of race, the American Federation of Teachers and American Sociological Association said the letter was “broad, vague, and imprecise,” failing to define DEI programs beyond describing them as discriminatory.

“For example, it is not clear which of the following activities OCR would consider a violation of the letter,” the lawsuit said, listing scenarios including “leading a class discussion on the history of slavery in America or Japanese internment during World War II,” telling students they could not use a racial slur “and why other students might find the slur hurtful,” and “maintaining a school mission built around advancing excellence and equity.”

In Phoenixville, Overland said the district was conducting a “risk analysis” to determine “anything we have that could be interpreted” as violating Trump’s orders. He didn’t comment on what programs could possibly fall into that category: “I don’t want to give them an easy list of things to go after.”

Only some Philadelphia-area school districts have formal DEI initiatives or programs. Some districts have already scaled back efforts, including amid conservative backlash over critical race theory — a legal framework describing racism as systemically embedded in institutions — several years earlier.

In the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, officials said they had stopped working in 2023 with the Pacific Educational Group, a teacher-training organization based in California that came under fire from conservative parents for discussing critical race theory.

But the district’s website says it continues to provide “culturally responsive, and anti-racist curriculum and instruction at all grade levels,” and works to “eliminate systemic barriers that result in racial disparities,” among other areas.

“There have been no substantive changes to any work in furtherance of the TESD Equity Guiding Principles since January 20, 2025,” said the board’s president, Todd Kantorcyzk. While the recent executive orders and guidance are “an evolving situation,” Kantorcyzk said, “we currently do not believe that the district’s federal funding is at risk due to the implementation of any district program.”

The Lower Merion School District — which employs a director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, offers racial affinity groups for students, and teaches cultural competency lessons — did not specifically address whether it had made any changes to its programs, but pointed to a February statement responding to the executive orders.

“We stand by and intend to uphold our policies, which have been approved and revised over time by our locally elected board of school directors, and which reflect the values of our community,” the district’s acting superintendent and school board said in the statement, which pledged to “continue our work to ensure that all students and staff feel a sense of safety and belonging in our schools.”

» READ MORE: Lower Merion led racial equity efforts in the ′90s. But its achievement gap has only widened.

Some area schools also aren’t backing down from policies supporting transgender students, despite Trump’s orders rejecting “gender ideology” and barring transgender female students from playing on girls’ sports teams. The Colonial School District has stood by a transgender athlete while facing a lawsuit over its policy, while the Philadelphia School District has said it will continue to allow transgender students to play on sports teams matching their gender identities.

“Schools are navigating a lot of uncharted territory,” said Erica Hermans, president of the Spring-Ford Area school board. During “volatile times,” she said, “I think it’s important not to overreact.”

Spring-Ford has an equity, diversity, and inclusion policy that calls for providing every student access to curriculum and supports, “even when this means differentiating resource allocation,” and reviewing district programs and professional development “to ensure the promotion of racial equity.”

Hermans, a Democrat who said she was speaking only for herself as board president, said she was “firm in my commitment” to DEI.

“Our focus on inclusivity and diversity is not going to change,” she said, adding that Spring-Ford is “not making any broad, sweeping changes to anything we deliver.”

While federal funding accounts for a larger share of poorer school district budgets — in Philadelphia, it’s about 10% — affluent districts are less dependent. Spring-Ford received $1.4 million in federal funding last year, Hermans said, or less than 1% of the district’s budget.

Still, “it’s important not to downplay that,” Hermans said, adding that the money covers needed student services and lessens residents’ property tax burden.

In Phoenixville, federal money makes up just over 1% of the district’s budget. Overland, the school board president, said that given that limited reliance, the district has a responsibility to stick up for its values.

In addition to passing a “Welcoming Schools” resolution in February that affirmed protections for transgender students, immigrant students, and students with disabilities, the Phoenixville board announced it would create an “Equity, Belonging and Inclusion Taskforce.” It’s also reviewing whether it needs to create a full-time position for its equity coordinator — currently a teacher who performs that role as an additional duty.

While the board initially was “advised to be quiet, and not draw attention to ourselves,” Overland said he wanted to be “proactive” — and also provide cover for other school districts fearful about repercussions.

“We’re in a position right now where we can stand up and push back against them,” Overland said. He said he’d even support standing up to Trump “if we have to dip into our rainy day fund or reserves to avoid giving into threats.”