Resident urges Taos board to oppose federal DEI grants and raises student-data privacy concerns

During the public-comment portion of the Taos Municipal Schools special meeting on March 8, 2025, a resident, identified in the transcript as Mr. Hall, urged the board to oppose federal actions he said support diversity, equity and inclusion content and to challenge recent U.S. Department of Education grant decisions.

Mr. Hall said he was concerned both about instructional content and student data privacy. "We're facing a deconstruction of public education," he said, and described a Department of Education announcement he read dated Feb. 17, 2025, that he said involved "about $600,000,000 in grants" for devices, teacher training and other programs. He also raised concerns about the student-data platform Panorama and the possibility of data breaches, referencing public figures in his remarks.

Hall told the board he wanted the district and community to "voice their dissent" and to challenge the federal approach to certain instructional materials he described using terms such as "critical race theory, diversity, equity, inclusion." He asked the board to formally respond to the federal policies and to defend local instructional choices.

The board received Hall's comments during the public-comment period; no formal action was taken on his request during the March 8 session. The transcript shows board leaders and the trainer did not commit to specific next steps in public about Hall's suggestions.