LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Lee County School Board decided to rename it's Director of Diversity and Inclusion position to Director of Continuous Improvement on Tuesday night.
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14151 to end "Radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing."
DEI stands for diversity equity and inclusion.
Fox 4's Dominga Murray was at Tuesday night's meeting. She heard former board member and educator, Gwyn Gittens, speak during public comment.
"The reason they decided to do what they’re doing is, and they said it, they were afraid that they were gonna lose funding," she said.
The old and new positions are similar but in the new job description there are no references to DEI education.
Before fall, state and local schools that receive federal funding will be provided clarity on how to move forward. The Lee County School District receives about $4.6 million in federal money.
Former Fort Myers Councilman Johnny Streets also spoke during public comment. He said he does not want the district to lose federal funding, but wishes a different decision could be reached.
He's concerned that no conversation about disabilities, gender, race and religion in the classroom, is a disservice.
"I see that is eroding very fast and I don’t intend to sit idle and just let it happen," he said.
In Lee County schools, there has been DEI training, extracurricular activities, and cultural outreach.
Here's a statement from the district:
"The school district of lee county is currently reviewing the executive orders issued by the President and awaiting further guidelines from the respective federal agencies to ensure our continued compliance."
"This whole thing with DEI is fear from the top fear from the bottom, everybody fears what everybody else is going to do, and in the meantime, children are being forgotten," Gittens said.
