Wichita Public Schools remove diversity language, policies from website. Here’s why

Words like “equity,” “diversity,” and “accountability” have quietly disappeared from the Wichita Public Schools website, along with policies related to those issues, after the Trump administration sent letters to schools threatening loss of federal funding.

The Department of Education publicly sent two letters to schools that receive federal funding, threatening to pull that funding if the schools are found to “racially discriminate” using diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The letters came as the president signed executive orders to end DEI programs in the federal government in late January.

The first letter, dated Feb. 14, gave schools 14 days to comply. A followup letter sent on Feb. 28, the day schools were to comply, included an FAQ providing some clarification to its first letter.

Since those letters were published, any mention of diversity and the district’s own Equity, Diversity, and Accountability Office, have been removed from the district’s newly redesigned website.

Among the things no longer there: The statement “‘The World Walks Our Hallways!’” which went on to say “Wichita Public Schools is a dynamic, welcoming school community that supports the needs of all learners, from the most highly skilled to those needing intensive assistance. Our students come from 104 countries and more than 115 languages are spoken in the homes of district students.”

During the board’s recent meeting, Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld and board president Diane Albert read statements saying the district was complying with the order. They did not provide details.

“According to the letter, non compliance would risk millions of dollars in federal funding that WPS currently receives,” Bielefeld said while reading his statement. “After many hours of discussion, review and seeking further guidance from the state and federal levels, we determined... we needed to comply with the DOE guidance as best we could, given the tight turnaround.”

The Wichita Eagle, using the Internet Archive, found several instances where the state’s largest school district removed or changed language related to diversity and its diversity initiatives.

The district’s “About” page used to mention its “Richly Diverse Student Body” and provide the racial background of its students. Those demographics are still available, but now labeled as “Our Student Body.” The district says the makeup of its student body is 39% Hispanic, nearly 28% Caucasian and about 20% African-American.

The district also revised part of its nondiscrimination statement to read, “The Wichita Public Schools does not discriminate any legally protected classification in its programs or activities.”

The statement used to list off a number of examples, including race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, age and other classifications.

Some of the district’s policies are also being removed from its website, including one labeled “Integration and Diversity.”

Other policies that were deleted include the district’s Equal Opportunity Employment policy, its Civil Rights resolution policy, and one that helped guide the district on purchasing goods and services from disadvantaged and woman-owned businesses.

The district says it temporarily removed these policies from its website for review at a school board meeting later this year, according to Chief Communications Officer Rachel Bell.

“We took the approach of removing certain language from the website, just until we could get more clarification from the Department of Ed,” Bell said. “No policies have been changed at this point, there has been policies that have been temporarily removed from the website so that the board can review those policies, but those policies won’t be changed without public board action.”

The school board also met in a special closed meeting, citing attorney client privilege, on Feb. 28, the date it was ordered to comply with the directives. Draft meeting minutes provided by the district did not show any binding action was taken and did not say what was discussed.

“I think in this particular situation, it is new territory,” Bell said. “So, we’re trying to seek guidance… both at the state and federal levels.”

Bell said the four people who were listed on the district’s website as working in the Equity, Diversity, and Accountability Office are still employed by the district; she said she did not have information on their current job duties.

A phone message left with the district’s EDA office Monday had not been returned by late Tuesday afternoon.

The school district reached a settlement agreement with President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice last year. The DOJ found race and disability discrimination in how discipline was administered to students.

Internal pushback

On the school district’s website, a popup window directs visitors to take a survey about the district’s redesigned website.

Former Marketing and Strategic Partnerships Supervisor Suzy Finn was behind much of the redesign, saying it was “the biggest, hardest project” she’s worked on in her professional career.

“I was extremely proud of the work the team did to create a site that accurately reflected in word and image the shared values of our district, including equity and diversity,” a Facebook post by Finn read.

Finn was not available for comment, but she gave The Eagle permission to use the post for this story.

When Finn was directed by the district to make changes to the new website to comply with the DOE letters, she decided to resign instead from the job she’s had since 2018.

“Words matter; so does the absence of them. I couldn’t do it,” her post dated on March 8 reads. “None of us should’ve been put in this situation.”

The United Teachers of Wichita, the union representing many of the district’s teachers, also pushed back on recent actions made by the Trump administration.

Along with the letters sent by the DOE, the federal department also created an online portal, called the “End DEI portal,” where people can submit reports of race or sex discrimination in K-12 schools.

The union spoke out against this new portal at the most recent Wichita school board meeting.

“Let’s be clear, vague and politically charged phrases like critical theory, rogue sex education and divisive ideologies serve only to stoke fear and confusion,” union President Katie Warren said. “What we do know is that our teachers follow our state standards. We expect and trust that this school board will support our educators in ensuring that history is taught accurately, that our debate and speech teachers can foster critical thinking through discussion, that programs like Second Step and human growth and development remain part of our curriculum, and that our teachers are never punished for teaching critical thinking skills to our students.”

“Our classrooms should be spaces for learning, not arenas for political agendas that foster the very division that this policy appears intended to create.”

This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM.