Utah Board of Education rejects measure targeting lingering diversity programs in schools
Apr 3, 2025, 8:00 PM | Updated: 9:44 pm
(Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
(Megan Nielsen, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY —The Utah State Board of Education on Thursday struck down a resolution that targeted remaining diversity, equity and inclusion practices it says are “still present and active” in the state’s schools and Board of Education rules.
According to the proposal, the Board of Education calls on the state body and local school districts to “immediately disband” practices, programming, curriculum and policies aimed at promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
The resolution likened such initiatives — known by the acronym DEI — to Soviet-style communism.
Related: University of Utah among 50+ universities facing federal investigations as part of Trump’s anti-DEI campaign
The intent of diversity programming is “to achieve the Soviet Communist goal of actual equality, or equity … by implementing a political favoritism program in the name of identity politics,” the proposed resolution reads. The push for diversity, equity and inclusion, it goes on, “is 1920s Soviet Union policy for using ethnic minorities to advance the installation of Communism.”
Although the resolution didn’t identify any specific examples of diversity programming, Christina Boggess, the state school board member behind the proposal, said they’re there.
“I think we need to take this seriously. Whether it’s known or unknown, whether it’s purposeful or unpurposeful, it is happening in our schools,” Boggess said Thursday. “When we have educators employed in this state putting out videos on Twitter and Instagram saying, ‘I’m breaking the law, and this is how I’m doing it,’ I think this board needs to take that seriously, and I think we need to have the conversation about how we are going to come into compliance with not only the laws set forth by our own Legislature, but what are we going to do as we move to comply with our federal directives?”
Boggess did not provide any evidence to support the claim of educators breaking laws.
Throughout over an hour of discussion, board members debated the effectiveness of the resolution, particularly in the context of ensuring compliance with HB261, which was approved by Utah lawmakers in 2024.
HB261 called for the dismantling of diversity initiatives at Utah’s public colleges, public schools and other government entities. Such initiatives aim at aiding traditionally marginalized groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, but HB261 proponents say all people in need, regardless of personal identifiers, should be able to tap into them.
Two separate motions were made during the meeting — to postpone action on the resolution until the board’s meeting on May 2, and to indefinitely postpone action — both of which failed.
Board member Sarah Reale called the resolution a “complete waste of time,” and others expressed concern that the resolution doesn’t actually do anything from a prescriptive standpoint and only affirms the board’s position on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“Our public schools have put time and resources implementing and following the requirements of HB261. This resolution is unnecessary, creates misleading narratives, fuels culture wars and is, frankly, embarrassing,” she said in a message to KSL.com. “To me, we already have a law in place. We do not need this resolution. There are better things we could be working on right now.”
Ultimately, the resolution failed by way of a 10-4 vote, with board members Joann Brinton, Rod Hall, Emily Green and Boggess casting votes in favor.
“I think we’re giving the proverbial middle finger to the Legislature. I think we’re giving the proverbial middle finger to our federal agencies who have spoken very boldly on these issues and have asked us to address them, and when we don’t … I think it becomes very concerning,” Boggess said. “We’re once again dismissing the hundreds and maybe, compounded, thousands of complaints about radical DEI in our schools.”
Contributing: Tim Vandenack
