A Virginia elementary school principal gave an “equity presentation” wherein she insinuated that Hispanic parents and students are unable to perform in educational settings because they face “immigration,” “deportation threats,” “health concerns,” and more.
Guilford Elementary School in Virginia’s Loudoun County Public School (LCPS) district — one of the most affluent districts in the nation — hosted an equity presentation for teachers. The virtual presentation was given by Principal Lauren Sprowls and the school’s equity lead Suzanne Elbeze.
One slide in the PowerPoint claimed that “Latinx” students and families may be facing outsized hardships in comparison to other racial groups. The presentation listed immigration, deportation threats, language barriers, discrimination, access to services, employment difficulties, family responsibilities, health concerns, and family economics as barriers to “Latinx” families.
Listed under the category “Barriers to success” for Hispanic students, the presentation claimed that “Latinx” families struggle to communicate with the school because of work demands, lack of access to technology, and lack of understanding of parental engagement in education.
Teachers were told to support Hispanic students by choosing “culturally representative classroom materials and books” and practicing a slew of social justice buzzwords such as “cultural humility,” “awareness of implicit bias,” and “anti-racism.”
According to the presentation, “anti-racism” is defined as “actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life.” Parents find it wildly inappropriate that teachers are trying to politicize their elementary-aged students.
Ian Prior, the founder of Figthforschools.com, said that such theories and comments have no place in the public school system, especially in a public school system for kindergarteners.
“This is just another unfortunate example of Loudoun County Public Schools injecting regressive, divisive, and destructive critical race theory concepts in the school system,” Prior told The Daily Wire. “Not only are these issues not appropriate at an elementary school level, but they reinforce stereotypes when we should be encouraging teachers and children to treat everyone as a unique individual, not a member of a socially constructed demographic.”
According to Fox News, Loudoun County is planning to allocate over $6 million in “equity” and “equity training” for the 2022 fiscal year budget.
The budget proposal allocated $339,516 on “instruction facilitators, equity, and culturally responsive,” $565,983 for “School Counselor,” $72,000 for “equity training across departments,” and another $50,000 for “diversity interview panels.”
Prior told The Daily Wire that LCPS is using this money to indoctrinate students with “critical race theory,” the theory that claims that America is irredeemably rooted in racism.
“LCPS claims it has not implemented critical race theory, but example after example — and even materials from its own equity consultant — demonstrates that is exactly what they are doing.”
The district partners with an equity consulting firm called “The Equity Collaborative,” which consistently touts its relationship to the divisive critical race theory.
LCPS did not respond to The Daily Wire’s requests for comment in time for publication.