Lateef addressed attendees at a town hall meeting on Thursday, February 27, 2024, at Battlefield High School near Haymarket, vowing to resist federal pressure to close the school division’s DEI office. His remarks were met with a standing ovation.
“Tomorrow, [President Trump] has said that any school division that doesn’t close their DEI office, we’ll cut federal funding. Well folks, tomorrow we will proceed as usual and I’ll see him in court. He’s coming after our immigrant kids. You’re sitting in the 10th most diverse county in all of America. So when you come after our children on ICE raids, we will see you in court.”
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The statement, released during the commission’s monthly meeting, seeks to reassure residents that county protections remain in place regardless of potential changes at the federal level brought on by President Trump’s executive order "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.”
The commission’s decision to issue the statement sparked discussion among its members, with some questioning the urgency and others supporting action. Chair Curtis Porter defended the timing, emphasizing the importance of preventing confusion and ensuring residents know their rights under county law.
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Supervisor Yesli Vega continued to push back on what she calls an "insidious and divisive agenda" within the halls of Prince William County Government, its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, and a survey demanding to know the sexual orientation of employees.
During a Board of County Supervisors meeting Tuesday, March 14, 2023, Vega read into the record an email from a county employee who voiced concerns about a DEI survey government workers were asked to take.
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The Prince William County Government restored an online survey asking employees about their gender identity, sexual orientation, and whether or not they feel valued at work after Supervisor Yesli Vega shared the survey with her constituents.
Maria Burgos, head of the county's diversity, equity, and inclusion office, reopened the survey to government employees only and extended the survey time by about a week.
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The Prince William County Government removed an online survey asking employees about their gender identity, sexual orientation, and whether or not they feel valued at work after Supervisor Yesli Vega shared the survey with her constituents.
The 21-question survey (see it here) cost taxpayers $78,000, or about $3,700 per question, and was conducted by DiversityMBA/Learning Solutions, according to an email from Maria Burgos, the county's equity and inclusion officer.
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Columbus Day is no more in Prince William County.
A federal holiday since 1937, the Board of County Supervisors nixed the holiday during its October 10, 2022 meeting, which celebrates the Italian explorer, the first European to land in North America.
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Dr. Lucretia Brown was the first high-profile hire by Dr. LaTanya McDade, who took over as Prince William schools superintendent after Dr. Stephen Walts retired a year ago. Before coming to our area, Brown was the Deputy Superintendent of Equity, Accountability, and School Improvement for Allentown School District in Pennsylvania.
Now at Virginia's second-largest school district, she's made few public appearances and has yet to address the county School Board. In light of the recent focus on critically responsive teaching, a statewide gubernatorial election that put Critical Race Theory under a microscope, and a string of School Board meetings with parents demanding a more significant role in their children's public-school education, it's fair to say many of us are curious about her, and what she plans to do in her new role.
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On Tuesday, February 8, county leaders criticized a final report from the Prince William County Racial and Social Justice Commission, calling it incomplete.
Multiple commission members said they needed more time to find answers about why disparities exist between white, black, and Hispanic students in the county schools after a massive reduction in testing scores following the school division's shift to online learning during the pandemic.
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Residents hoping to ask questions about Critical Race Theory and its possible application in the classroom left disappointed Monday night.
More than 100 people attended a town hall meeting about Culturally Responsive Instruction on Monday night at the Prince William County Public Schools headquarters. They were not permitted to ask about CRT -- a decades-old framework that views all facets of society through race.
Woodbridge District School Board Member Loree Williams organized the town hall. She wouldn't entertain questions about CRT, a hot topic during the November 2 Virginia Gubernatorial Campaign that swept Republicans into statewide office, including Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin, after two years of Democratic control.
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School Board Chairman Babur Lateef publicly says Prince William County Schools are not teaching Critical Race Theory.
But, in private texts that were made public only through a Freedom of Information Act request, Lateef says "Well I have always said that and I have maintained CRT is what we are doing here."
School Board Member Loree Williams says Critical Race Theory is not being taught in the schools in Prince William County, and anybody who claims otherwise is wrong.
