Broward schools must end Latino leadership course or lose $30M grant, feds say
Miami Herald | By Amanda Rosa |
Broward County Public Schools received an ultimatum from the U.S. Department of Education: end a Latino leadership course or lose a $30 million grant. Now, Latinos in Action courses have been canceled for the spring 2026 semester.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to Broward Superintendent Howard Hepburn last Wednesday that gave BCPS five days to cancel the spring semester’s Latinos in Action courses, which the DOE called discriminatory against non-Latino students. On Friday, BCPS sent an email to parents about the decision to end the popular course in order to comply with federal requirements.
Latinos in Action, a nationwide educational program, was offered as an elective class or extracurricular club at 46 Broward middle and high schools and education centers. BCPS, which has a nearly 40% Hispanic student population, started offering the courses in 2015.
“Please be assured that this change will not diminish our commitment to all our students. The District will continue to provide enrichment opportunities, leadership development, and pathways that prepare every student for success in college, career, and community,” the BCPS letter reads. “We understand this transition may raise questions, and we are committed to keeping you informed.”
The Latinos in Action organization, which offers the program in 16 states and hundreds of schools, did not respond to a request for comment. According to the Latinos in Action website, the program is meant to “empower our amazing youth to lead and strengthen their communities through college and career readiness.”
The shake up at BCPS comes as the Trump administration pushes against so-called DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) efforts nationwide, including in public schools. The DOE argues in its letter that Latinos in Action violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in part because it “appears to be explicitly organized around the concept of Latino ethnicity.”
“The Latinos In Action program, however, is designed for and exclusive to Latino students. It is not, for instance, available to black, white, or Asian American students,” the DOE letter says. “This is textbook racial discrimination, and no justification proffered by the District can overcome the patent illegality of its unlawful exclusionary program.”
“As a result of these findings, unless the District comes into compliance with Title VI, I will not certify its grant,” the letter reads.
But students of all races and backgrounds take Latinos in Action courses at Broward Schools, said School Board Chair Debra Hixon. She said it was confusing for DOE to connect Latinos in Action programming with the $30 million Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant the district had applied for because “the grant that will be affected doesn’t have anything to do with LIA,” she said.
“It would have been better if DOE had contacted us to ask about the concerns before they came to their own conclusions,” Hixon said. The DOE letter also said that Latinos in Action violates Title XI because the Latinos in Action FAQ page on its website said “80% of the class must be Latino. 20% of students may be from any other racial/ethnic background.” The Miami Herald did not find that language on the FAQ page on Monday.
School board member Adam Cervera told the Herald that Latinos in Action clubs and courses in Broward schools do not adhere to any quota. Cervera, a lawyer who Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the board earlier this year, said he reviewed BCPS’ contract with Latinos in Action and did not see any language that required Broward clubs to have a certain number of Hispanic or Latino student members.
In fact, Cervera said, he met students and parents at a Cooper City event last Friday who told him that students of all races and ethnicities participate in Latinos in Action. They also told him they were upset and disappointed to see the courses be canceled.
“LIA has done some great things over the years. It really is a great course, but you have to remember, everybody has to follow the law, right?” Cervera said. “Title VI exists for a reason.”
Cervera, the only Latino Broward School Board member, said he was surprised to see the DOE’s demands at first, but upon further review said the letter ultimately “made a lot of sense to me” considering the quota that the federal government says was on the Latinos in Action website. Though Cervera could not find that language on the FAQ page himself, he said that doesn’t mean it never existed.
BCPS reached out to Latinos in Action over the issue, Cervera said, though he did not know if the district received a response. Hopefully, he said, this can be resolved if Latinos in Action made it clear that its program does not discriminate against non-Latino students.
“I think the bigger picture type of question that we have to look at here is the district is not going to do business with this organization or any organization that is violating the law,” Cervera said.
