Will Hinsdale D86 Answer Trump DEI Mandate?

HINSDALE, IL – The Trump administration is mandating school districts sign a certification letter that they are not pushing DEI to give preference to one racial group over another.

Without such a letter, the U.S. Department of Education may withhold federal money, according to a federal memo.

It is unclear whether Hinsdale High School District 86 plans to sign it. The district has not received the federal notification, its spokesman, Alex Mayster, said in an email to Patch on Monday.

The district receives about $2.6 million a year from the feds, making up about 2.2 percent of the budget, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In its request Thursday, the Department of Education required that certification letters be turned in within 10 days. The department publicly announced its requirement while many school systems, including District 86, were on spring break.

Some don't want local districts to sign the letter. Among them is Linda Burke, a Hinsdale resident who has attended District 86 board meetings since the 1990s.

"Our leadership must NOT sign a 'certification letter' attached to a Musk-Trump administration memo demanding that K-12 public school districts 'confirm compliance' with a purge of all DEI (diversity equity inclusion) materials from their school curricula," Burke said in a message to her email list Monday.

Reached by phone Monday, Lindsay Record, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education, said her agency has not given school districts guidance on how to handle the federal government's request. She said the state was still evaluating the situation.

"The Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Education is once again threatening funding for Illinois’ children and attempting to exert power over every district in the country – even as it claims it’s returning education to the states," the state board said in a statement. "Illinois will never waver in its commitment to helping every child from every community, background, socioeconomic status, gender, and race – which is consistent with federal and state laws and our values."

According to the federal memo, a program featuring diversity, equity and inclusion violates antidiscrimination laws and the Constitution if it serves to "advantage one's race over another." It does not indicate that a program merely labeled "DEI" must go.

"The use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law," the memo said.