The Prior Lake-Savage school board rescinded a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) resolution during its meeting Monday night.
“Does this resolution in and of itself serve the whole in a unifying way?” school board member Amy Bullyan said was the most important question to her. The resolution was passed in 2020 and addressed things like “implicit bias” and “anti-racism.”
“Racism and implicit bias manifest in myriad ways, including, but not limited to, hate speech, open hostility and bigotry, systematic and institutionalized practices and policies, microaggressions, color-blind ideology, willful ignorance, and unconscious bias in decision making, each of which have the effect of negatively impacting Black, Indigenous, and people of color and members of other marginalized groups,” the resolution says.
Supporters of the resolution argued that it is needed to ensure all students feel safe and supported and to build community trust. Those who opposed it said that it didn’t improve the achievement gap, which was one of its stated purposes, and that it actually caused more division in the community.
“The Equity and Inclusion Resolution is a document that has actually been used as the basis for retaliation against individuals in our community and our schools. Every individual is protected under the Minnesota Human Rights Act and therefore the resolution is not necessary and in fact is a document that serves to CAUSE division and discrimination not eliminate it,” parent Rachel Carlson said in an email to the school board shared with Alpha News.
The board members who supported the resolution said it was carefully constructed over months by dozens of students and community members.
“To wipe it out completely now … does a disservice to the people involved and does a disservice to the students,” board member Mary Frantz said. “The resolution came as the result of years of issues here.”
Frantz acknowledged that the resolution could use some revision, but she wasn’t in favor of throwing it out entirely. “There’s no data to support that our district got worse or better because of the resolution,” she said.
Frantz’s support of the resolution was met with loud applause from people in the room who came to protest the board voting to throw it out.
“It hasn’t closed our achievement gap,” Lisa Atkinson, board treasurer, said regarding the DEI resolution. “I have a hard time pointing to what has it helped in our district.”
A motion to postpone the vote and hold a study group regarding the resolution failed on a 3-4 vote. The vote to throw out the resolution entirely passed on a 5-2 vote.
The Minnesota Parents Alliance (MPA) invested resources into the Prior Lake-Savage school board elections in the 2024 election cycle to help elect more parent-aligned school board members. Their candidates won major victories in several school districts across the state, including those in the Prior Lake-Savage district.
Board members Charles Johnson and Jessica Mason were both backed by MPA and they were the top two vote-earners among a field of six candidates. Both of them voted in favor of throwing out the DEI resolution.
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
