DY DEI Federal Complaint - Email Correspondence
From: Marc Smith <smithm@dy-regional.k12.ma.us>
Subject: Re: Notice of Intent to File Federal Complaint Regarding DEI Job Postings in Violation of Executive Order and Federal Funding Compliance
Date: June 20, 2025 at 4:05 PM
To: Concerned Parent <>
Mr. Parent,
Thank you for your email. Where you, the district, and the state disagree is in the definition of safety. Safety, according to the district and the state includes not only physical safety, but psychological safety. It is my job to ensure that all students are provided a school environment where they are safe, are able to access every opportunity that the school system has to offer, and are free from bullying and harassment. That means that I am responsible for protecting the rights of people that I personally agree with, and those that I do not.
I agree with you that it is not the job of the school district to teach morality nor to reshape student identity. However, the job of a public school is to uphold the morals of the community as well as to protect the individual identities of each student that attends the school, due to the fact that public schools are responsible for educating every student that crosses our threshold. Again, this is upheld by statute, supreme courts decisions, and more than 150 years of public education practice in this state going back to Horace Mann.
Finally, to be clear, the only "confronting" that is expected to happen in D-Y is when the humanity of one individual is held to be lower than that of another. Your beliefs about students, identity, equity, belonging, etc. are welcome as part of an open dialogue within D-Y. All that is expected is that we do not diminish the human dignity of one group over another. In D-Y, we will not deny one group of students, parents, staff, etc. access to any opportunities within the school system due to their membership within any particular group, nor will we tolerate any interactions that dehumanize them due to their membership in that group. As long as we can uphold our common humanity, all ideas are welcome.
Best,
Marc
On Thu, Jun 19, 2025 at 3:43 PM Concerned Parent <> wrote:
Dear Dr. Smith,
Thank you for your response. While I respect your position and your commitment to following administrative guidance, I must respond with equal clarity and conviction.
Let me be direct: I believe the district is using state guidelines and executive directives as a shield to justify ideological overreach into the lives of our children. This is not a question of compliance—it is a question of intent. The school is not merely “following orders”; it is actively participating in and promoting an agenda that many parents, myself included, find inappropriate, divisive, and harmful.
As noted in my original letter, the district’s own internal job posting lays this out plainly. It openly seeks individuals to:
- Advise leadership on DEI policy,
- Influence curriculum content,
- Oversee subcommittees focused on hiring and “belonging”,
- Confront staff and students over ambiguous “equity issues”,
- And promote a district-wide DEI narrative to the broader community.
This is not neutral. This is not about safety. This is about institutionalizing a specific worldview, often rooted in controversial political and social ideologies. That may be the priority of the state’s current leadership, but it is not the rightful domain of a public school.
To be clear:
- It is not the school’s job to teach morality.
- It is not the school’s job to reshape student identity to fit a political framework.
- And it is certainly not the school’s job to confront children or staff who do not affirm ideological norms cloaked in the language of “equity.”
As a parent and a citizen, I have a duty to push back. While I take no pleasure in escalating this, I have made the decision to move forward with a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. I will include your response and CC your office for the record. My goal is not to punish individual educators, but to ensure that federal law and constitutional boundaries are respected—especially as federal oversight is beginning to shift in a direction that recognizes the damage this ideological capture has caused.
The district may continue to cite state policy as justification, but I reject the premise that it is legally or ethically appropriate for a public school to push moral and political agendas onto children. That is not education—it is indoctrination.
Respectfully,
Concerned Parent
On Jun 16, 2025, at 3:56 PM, Marc Smith <smithm@dy-regional.k12.ma.us> wrote:
Mr. Parent,
Your Notice of intent was forwarded to me by Ms. Surdut and Ms. Santini. First, let me thank you for providing us with advance notice of your intent to file a complaint through the Office of Civil Rights.
As you already know, Executive Orders do not allow the President to supersede established Federal and State law. Additionally, state law is able to provide additional protections beyond what may be established as a "baseline" in a federal statute. A simple example would be with the minimum wage law. The current federal statute sets the minimum wage at $7.25/hr; however, MA law establishes the minimum wage in our state at $15/hr. Therefore, residents of Massachusetts are afforded the greatest benefit under the law and their minimum wage is $15/hr.
Similarly, in relation to the issue of protections for individuals from protected classes and the responsibilities for schools to create safe and inclusive learning environments for all students, there are federal laws that provide protections to students as well as MA state laws that provide a higher level of protection. As a school district, we do not get to pick and choose which laws we want to follow, we are required to follow the laws of the state as long as they are not in conflict with the federal law and if they provide the highest level of protection to students. Further, the school's federal funding is provided through the state (Title I-IV, IDEA, etc.). Our applications are reviewed, approved, monitored, and audited by MA DESE.
Recently, the MA Governor's office and Attorney General's Office provided guidance to schools on our obligations regarding maintaining safe and inclusive school environments for all students.
Until this guidance changes, we will maintain our current direction.
Respectfully,
Marc
Concerned parent
Date: 11 June 2025
To:
Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District
Attn: Sherry Santini, Director of Humanities & the Arts
296 Station Avenue
South Yarmouth, MA 02664
CC:
Liana Surdut, Administrative Assistant to Human Resources
296 Station Avenue
South Yarmouth, MA 02664
Subject: Notice of Intent to File Federal Complaint Regarding DEI Job Postings in Violation of Executive Order and Federal Funding Compliance
Dear Ms. Santini and Ms. Surdut,
I am writing to formally notify the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District of my intent to submit a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and other appropriate federal agencies regarding a recent job posting entitled “Diversity & Equity Inclusion Team” (Job ID: 1102) dated June 2, 2025.
This posting, which proposes hiring 14 individuals across the district to carry out DEI-related duties, raises serious legal concerns given the recently enacted Executive Orders 14151 and 14190, as well as subsequent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. These orders explicitly prohibit federally funded educational institutions from engaging in or promoting DEI programming, training, or hiring.
Though the job posting is labeled “internal,” it clearly outlines that these roles will:
- Advise district leadership on DEI policy,
- Engage in curriculum development,
- Oversee subcommittees related to hiring, belonging, and professional development,
- Confront students and staff regarding undefined “equity issues,”
- Promote a district-wide DEI message across the community.
Given that the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District receives federal funding, including through Title II and other federal grants, this hiring initiative appears to be in direct violation of standing federal mandates and potentially exposes the district to funding forfeiture or civil penalties.
If these positions are not withdrawn or publicly reconsidered by the district, I will move forward with a formal complaint and provide the Office for Civil Rights with supporting documentation of the posting and a full timeline of events. I am also prepared to contact the Office of Management and Budget, which is currently tracking DEI-related noncompliance under EO 14151.
Please be advised that this is not a political statement—it is a federal compliance issue. The use of taxpayer dollars to support ideologically driven roles in defiance of explicit federal directives is unacceptable and will be treated accordingly.
I respectfully request that you respond in writing within 7 business days as to whether this posting will be retracted or revised in compliance with federal law.
Sincerely,
Concerned Parent