MANCHESTER, NH – On Wednesday, May 21 the Manchester Board of School Committee’s Committee on Education Legislation held a discussion relating to an injunction around what has become known as the “Dear Colleague Letter.”
The letter, written in February 2025 by Craig Trainor of the U.S. Department of Education, builds upon the U.S. Supreme Court Case “Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard,” which determined that basing college admissions on racial criteria violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. In Trainor’s letter, the U.S. Department of Education correlates policies at school districts intended to fight systemic racism as false and illegal under the aforementioned Supreme Court decision. In particular the letter sees Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs as a violation of this decision and indicate that school districts that continue DEI policies could jeopardize federal funding.
A New Hampshire federal judge was asked to rule upon an injunction related to the letter, and the injunction as granted late last month. (see below).
During Wednesday’s meeting, members of the committee asked Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. Jenn Chmiel for an update on how the injunction impacts Manchester and if she would withdraw her signature from a form (see below) sent to New Hampshire school administrators requiring conformity with the letter, as some superintendents have done elsewhere in the state.
Chmiel said she had not withdrawn her signature, stating that guidance from the district’s legal team that the signature indicated the district’s compliance with Title VI rules and that the letter’s assertion that DEI programs were in conflict with Title VI were vague and could potentially face further challenges in court.
Still, Chmiel said that the uncertainty relating to compliance with Title VI requirements is having a chilling effect on teachers in addition to administrators, as violation of the law could jeopardize the ability of educators to hold their jobs in addition to districts potentially losing federal funding.
Board of School Committee Vice Chair Jim O’Connell said he found it difficult to listen to the potential collateral damage from the letter despite the injunction, adding that future historians of education and civil rights will see 2025 as a dark time.
He stated that the Manchester School District should never back away from supporting refugee students or students from minority families. O’Connell also expressed the need for teachers to be able to teach students about difficult topics in American history such as the eradication of Native American populations or Jim Crow laws in the south without the fear of losing their jobs because of the legislation from certain politicians.
“I feel that it falls to me to voice loudly and clearly that what we’re seeing is immoral, nasty, contrary to what America is,” he said.