MONTGOMERY Co. – Montgomery County School Board members, in a 5-1 vote, passed the motion to meet federal guidelines in signing a letter of compliance for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements per the United States Department of Education’s letter dated April 3, 2025.
The letter titled Reminder of Legal Obligations Undertaken in Exchange for Receiving Federal Financial Assistance and Request for Certification under Title VI and SFFA v. Harvard, reads “Section 601 of Title VI states that ‘[n]o person … shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.'” A copy of the letter can be found in the Board Docs section on the mcps.org website, along with the meeting agenda.
Board member Edward Gitre shared his thoughts, along with other members, prior to the vote.
“I know that there’s a lot of division in the country over this, that about the same number of states have declined to certify as have opted to certify,” Gitre said. “I am deeply troubled because I know there are claims about this being a Marxist doctrine DEI, I find that to be, there couldn’t be anything further from the truth.”
Gitre went on to say that the term ‘equity’ is important to Civil Rights and Title I, and he is not in support of the certification.
“Do we use DEI or division, equity, and inclusion in order to advantage one race over another in this district,” Gitre asked Superintendent Bernard Bragen, in attendance of the meeting.
“No, we do not,” Superintendent Bernard Bragen said.
Laura Purcell, Board member, did not want to “jeopardize kids’ resources” and wished to comply with the requirements of the letter.
Gitre made note of the fact that a proposed biliteracy program for Spanish- and English-speaking students is earmarked specifically for Prices Fork Elementary School in the 2025-26 school year.
“I bring that to your attention because somebody could see that and say that’s a DEI program. It’s not available to all students…and you’ve selected a particular population for that program and that could put us at odds for our certification, potentially,” Gitre said. “I see there is as much of a risk in signing as not signing.”
Edward Gitre was the single vote in opposition to signing the certification.
