Overwhelmed by the sheer variety of beads available, a Latinos In Action (LIA) student rests her hand above the rainbow palette before her. Deciding that a pink bead will match her carefully crafted bracelet most fittingly, she reaches for it and slides it through a thin string, the bead colliding with the others in a satisfying clink. Admiring her creation, she trims the bracelet to fit the wrist of a child; it is to be donated to SOS Children’s Village.

The LIA class spearheads various service activities, with bracelet making for children being one of them. However, due to a recent lawsuit involving the LIA program, all leadership curriculum must cease their partnership with the organization.

On Sept. 24, acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig W. Trainor, wrote a letter to Broward County’s Superintendent Howard Hepburn stating that the LIA organization conflicted with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the “program appears to exclude students based on race, to engage in unlawful racial balancing and to segregate students based on race.”

The letter required Hepburn to confirm that Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) would terminate all partnerships with the LIA program by the start of the 2026 spring semester within five days.

This change will affect the more than 200 students currently enrolled in the LIA program, one of the biggest programs in the district. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School administration was informed of the concern on Sept. 25 and was told to await further guidance from the district.

“We just found out about it recently,” Principal Michelle Kefford said. “We don’t have any specific details. The district has yet to provide guidance to schools.”

LIA is not a formal class defined by the Florida Department of Education Course Code Directory; rather, it falls under the broader classification of a leadership class. LIA classes, under the course code as a leadership class, only differ in that the content follows LIA curriculum.

The letter claims the program excludes students based on race, such that it is reserved primarily for Hispanic students through a ‘quota system’ where 80% of the class is required to be Latino. However, the LIA class operation at MSD and other BCPS schools contradict this claim.

“I think that people need to step inside any LIA classroom in the District and they would see that that’s not the case,” LIA instructor Rebecca Hernandez said. “I have never told a student they cannot be part of my class. I have students from every single race and background, and we speak a ton of different languages. Yes, the class is called ‘Latinos In Action,’ but I have never — or any LIA teacher that I know in Broward County — said ‘You must be Latino to join this class.’ That’s not the case. It’s an elective class; students can choose to be in it or not.”

The news garnered much disappointment from current LIA students, especially since the core reason for removing the course lay in its alleged discrimination against non-Latino students.

“Myself and everyone in the class, including Hernandez, were very shocked and surprised because our class was labeled for discrimination,” senior Franchesca Patrone said. “It’s been the most open-minded and inclusive class I’ve ever had in all of high school… we’ve grown a family in this class.”

LIA’s mission statement includes “bridging the graduation and opportunity gap for all students.”

Hispanic students are almost twice as likely to drop out of K-12 education than white students, giving them a disadvantage later in life. Programs designed to help Latino students, like LIA, are made to contain elements found by researchers to enhance student success. These elements include peer and teacher support, a positive learning environment and extracurricular activities.

“[LIA] gives students here at MSD a place to feel seen, feel heard,” Hernandez said. “There are a lot of students from different cultures there. It’s a place where they belong. We call it a familia because that’s what we truly strive to be in the sense that we are there to support each other in all of our different endeavors.”

According to Simonds’ qualitative analysis, Latinos in Action helps students graduate from high school and attend college through a supportive environment. Support comes from opportunities for service, scholarships, role models, guest speakers and tutoring services. These supports make it so that students are more likely to firmly decide to go to college. This analysis leaves questions regarding how pulling this program will affect students.

“[I hope students take away] the sense of community that we’ve built, how to be a leader,” Hernandez said. “I hope that they take with them the support that we’ve created here at MSD and use everything I’ve taught to lead events, how to create events, how to do public speaking. There are a lot of different things that are taught in LIA that are broader than just leadership. These students are leading events, organizing events within the community, within our school, and I hope they continue to inspire more than anything else.”

LIA is associated with not only a class, but a club in which the majority of LIA students participate. Similarly, the club will be barred from using LIA curriculum and content.

This is only another step in the Department of Education’s overall crackdown on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Linda McMahon, the U.S. Department of Education Secretary, has been tasked with dismantling the Department of Education. Under her leadership, the agency publicly criticized four school districts for refusing to adopt anti-trans policies and for not eliminating special programs for Black students.

MSD administration is planning to continue its existing leadership programs, functioning within the limits placed on curriculum.

“We can still have a leadership class, they just can’t follow the LIA curriculum,” Kefford said. “There are kids that are taking a class that falls under the umbrella of LIA. They are enrolled in a leadership class, they are not enrolled in a LIA class. They can still have a leadership class, they can still do mentoring, they can still work with people in the community, they just can’t utilize any LIA materials, branding and content.”

To date, the district has not offered a concrete plan regarding how the classes will function for the remainder of the school year and beyond. Although LIA teachers and students across Broward County are unsure how to navigate the class once the LIA curriculum is withdrawn, one thing remains certain: the diversity and welcoming environment present in the leadership class will be perpetuated regardless of the curriculum followed.