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 divisionâs DEI office. His remarks were met with a standing ovation.
âTomorrow, [President Trump] has said that any school division that doesnât close their DEI office, weâll cut federal funding. Well folks, tomorrow we will proceed as usual and Iâll see him in court. Heâs coming after our immigrant kids. Youâre 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.â
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The statement, released during the commissionâs monthly meeting, seeks to reassure residents that county protections remain in place regardless of potential changes at the federal level brought on by President Trumpâs executive order "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.â
The commissionâs 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 countyâs equity and inclusion officer.
Vega represents the Coles District and sent a link to the online survey in her constituent email on Sunday, February 26, 2023:
As this survey is taxpayer-funded, our office wanted to share and ensure that all who work for the county or identify as working for the county are included and have the opportunity to participate and provide feedback.
While some may note that some of the questions are intrusive and some of the answer options arenât particularly inclusive, a few questions do provide an opportunity to write-in your own answer.
Again, this is a great opportunity to see how your hard-earned tax dollars are used and to catch a glimpse into the current environment of the Prince William County Government.
Burgos said the county government unpublished the online survey after Vegaâs constituents received the email. Burgos said she plans to repost the survey soon.
From Burgosâ email obtained by PLN:
[DiversityMBA/Learning Solutions] will identify specific lines of inquiry (including but not limited to: organizational behaviors, practices, and procedures that impede inclusion in the following areas: policies and practices in relation to recruitment/selection, performance management, pay and numeration, talent identification as well as understanding leadership development, employee levels of inclusion, and career structures).
DiversityMBA/Learning Solutions has collected over 100+ documents around these lines of inquiry. They are synthesizing the PWC Employee survey, and the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument results conducted by each department.
They are now completing the last areas of organizational assessments with the inclusion survey and department interviews. Since your office released the survey link to the public, we closed the survey and will reopen it for all employees once we can ensure this instrument of measure has not been compromised.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors created the countyâs office of equity and inclusion in 2021. Burgos worked in the county school division in a similar role before she went to the county government.
While diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices have become commonplace in government and educational institutions across the U.S., some jurisdictions are scrapping them. Earlier this month, The Roanoke Times reported the Roanoke County Public School division eliminated its DEI position.
In Prince William County in 2022, the county school division declined insidenova.com an interview with its DEI officer. The publication sought to learn more about her job duties and its work within the stateâs second-largest school division.
Prince William County Public Schools created its DEI office in 2021, giving it a $2 million budget. The project was heralded by Superintendent Dr. LaTayna McDade, who came to the county from Chicago Public Schools in 2021.
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.
The holiday is now known as Indigenous Peopleâs Day to recognize Doeg and Manhoac tribes who occupied the land known today as Prince William County.
Maria Burgos, the countyâs equity and inclusion officer, said many schools could identify the tribes while others may not.
âPrince William County recognizes that the county is built upon the lands that were once the home of thousands of indigenous peoples whom many of us may have forgotten,â the resolution states.
Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson objected to the change, citing various school assignments and field trips offered by the countyâs government school division teaching Native Americans and area galleries, like the Manassas Museum, where children may learn about indigenous tribes.
Lawson asked Burgos if she would consider adding Columbusâ name to the resolution, and she refused.
âPeople who want to demonize western civilization,â said Lawson. âThatâs what the intent of this resolution is, and I object.â
Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey motioned to approve the change. Lawson was the lone dissenting vote, while Coles District Supervisor Yelsli Vega abstained.
Upon his arrival to North America, Columbus showed brutal treatment toward the natives. Meanwhile, the Europeans who followed introduced new diseases to the continent, which sickened and killed many natives.
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.
