Oyster River and Portsmouth have joined Dover and Somersworth as Seacoast school districts signing onto a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, fighting against the Trump administration’s bid to rid schools of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The Trump administration is threatening schools it will take away federal funding if they don’t sign a form certifying they will not offer DEI programs. The lawsuit was filed by National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, which is representing plaintiffs at no cost, in federal court in New Hampshire. The plaintiffs also include school districts in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Norwich, Vermont, and the Center for Black Educator Development.
Oyster River and the Exeter Region Cooperative School District both have diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) directors, putting them under scrutiny of the Trump administration. Oyster River leaders explained why they are pushing back.
“We believe this unprecedented effort to limit local control of education directly conflicts with our mission and values as a district and will compromise our children’s learning,” Oyster River School Board chairperson Matt Bacon and district superintendent Robert Shaps wrote in a letter sent Thursday to families in the school district. “We take seriously our civic responsibility to advocate for our students, teachers, and families to ensure that we can offer a high-quality education for all students and create the conditions in schools where everyone is respected, valued, and appreciated. We hope this next step will support a democratic, informed, and engaged community as we work together to protect our children’s future.”
Portsmouth schools Superintendent Zachary McLaughlin initially signed the U.S. Department of Education “no DEI programs” compliance form. He believed the district was already in compliance and was concerned about potentially losing millions of dollars in federal funds. McLaughlin has since rescinded the form as Portsmouth has decided join the legal fight.
“As school districts across New Hampshire and the country struggle to respond to this vague and coercive request from the U.S. Department of Education, I am proud to live and work in a community that puts the delivery of an excellent education rooted in creating a deep sense of belonging for all of students as a priority that cannot be compromised,” McLaughlin said in a statement Friday. “Our district and city leaders look forward to working with the ACLU and our partner districts to seek assistance from the federal courts. Portsmouth is the ‘City of the Open Door,’ and with this step, we once again show those values.”
Members of the Portsmouth City Council and the city School Board all agreed SAU 52, the city’s school district, should join the federal suit.
Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern bashed the U.S. Department of Education’s attempt to alter public school instruction and programming.
“The rules are vague. The guidance is inconsistent. The federal government is trying to exert influence on local school curriculum,” he said in a statement. “That is as far away as you can get from John Stark’s ‘Live Free or Die’ attitude. The fact that it could be illegal to teach about Ona Judge, who escaped enslavement by George Washington, and found safe haven in Portsmouth, is absurd.”
Christine Boston, Dover’s assistant superintendent, said, “Diversity, equity and inclusion are important pillars of public education. We strive to support ALL students every day. In Dover … we work tirelessly to empower all learners regardless of race, disability, socioeconomic status or gender. … The (directive from the U.S. Department of Education), through its vaguely worded prohibitions, threatens the essence of what keeps our learning environment a place where all students and staff are welcomed and succeed.”
Oyster River’s concerns with the U.S. Department of Education directives go beyond defending DEI programming.
“Recently the district was directed to sign assurances that are predicated on a demand for compliance against a backdrop of vague restrictions and mandates as a prerequisite for receiving federal entitlement funds, including IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) special education funding and funding for child nutrition, including the free and reduced lunch program,” Bacon and Shaps wrote in their letter. “This assurance document is coupled with threats of future investigations, potential litigation, retaliation and the withholding of federal funds that, for the first time in history, are linked to conditional and cloudy expectations regarding educational discourse, school experiences, or local control of curriculum, teaching and learning.”
Schools in New Hampshire and across the nation rely heavily on federal funding. New Hampshire school districts received $336 million last school year, about 8% of all spending, according to a Concord Monitor report.
Trump administration calls DEI programs ‘impermissible’
The lawsuit questions the legality of a February “Dear Colleague” letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education. That letter threatened public schools with the loss of federal funding for not adhering to federal civil rights laws, echoing the Trump administration’s critiques of public school DEI programs
The new compliance form order from the U.S. Department of Education has now taken center stage in the New Hampshire lawsuit. The federal agency has asked all American public school districts to confirm their compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in SFFA v. Harvard that ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
The certification letter states all public school DEI programs that “advantage one’s race over another” are “impermissible.”
Federal lawsuit update: Parties agree to new deadline for compliance
The plaintiffs in the New Hampshire federal suit reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education Wednesday that the agency won’t take any enforcement action regarding the certification form or the previous “Dear Colleague” letter until at least April 24.
Certification forms can now be revised and resent until April 24.
“This pause in enforcement provides immediate relief to schools across the country while the broader legal challenge continues,” ACLU-NH stated.
The extension agreement was agreed to between the parties in Concord federal court Wednesday afternoon during an emergency hearing before Judge Landya McCafferty. A hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction in Concord has been scheduled for Thursday, April 17 at 10 a.m.
Which schools already filed ‘no DEI’ certification and which ones have not
More than 100 New Hampshire public school districts and charter schools had submitted their certification forms as of Friday morning, according to a New Hampshire Department of Education webpage tracking and posting the submissions.
SAU 50 superintendent Steve Zadravec, overseeing Greenland, New Castle, Newington and Rye students, sent in each town’s certification form on Tuesday. Lois Costa, superintendent of schools for Hampton, filed SAU 90’s attestation on Friday, April 4. Newmarket also filed a compliance form.
School districts that had not filed certifications as of Friday morning included Exeter Region (as well as SAU 16 member towns Exeter, Stratham, Newfields, East Kingston and Brentwood) and Winnacunnet (as well as SAU 21 member towns Hampton Falls, North Hampton, Seabrook and South Hampton) and Rochester.
The school districts that signed onto the lawsuit have not filed certification forms, with the exception of Portsmouth, which rescinded its form.
Dover schools Superintendent William Harbron, one of the districts that joined the lawsuit, has said the directive from the U.S. Department of Education is vague.
“It’s not well-defined what they’re meaning by it whatsoever,” he said.
(This story has been updated with new information.)