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By Dave Holman
Have you ever taken the time to watch any town of Guilford Board or Commission meeting? If not, I recommend you do so because it is the only way to witness the behind the scenes discussions amongst the members about issues that affect, we, the taxpayers in Guilford. It is also the only way to ascertain what the mindset of the various Board or Commission members is, and why they make the decisions they do.
All Guilford Board and Commission meetings are available to watch by going to the town web site at www.guilfordct.gov, clicking on “Boards and Commissions”, clicking on the Board or Commission you want to access, clicking on “Agenda”, then clicking on “video” for the particular meeting date you want to watch.
On April 21, 2025, a stunning discussion occurred at the Guilford Board of Finance meeting starting at the 21:50 minute mark, when Guilford First Selectman Matt Hoey asked, “What’s at risk for the Board of Education relative to special education funding with the actions that have been taken by the Trump administration relative to DEI and other executive orders. Do we have a clear understanding of the potential exposure … where would we find the money to continue to do the things we’ve been doing, or do we just not do it anymore?”
In other words, how much federal funding does Guilford stand to lose if Guilford Public Schools continues to implement Superintendent Freeman’s “Equity and Social Justice” Initiative, and if we do lose this federal funding, how would the town make up for the loss? According to Linda Trudeau, the Guilford School Business Manager, the District “receives approximately $1 million in direct federal grants.” This $1 million is absolutely in jeopardy, however, Connecticut school districts also receive significant funding, averaging 8% of each local school district education budget, from the State of Connecticut, which is primarily funded through federal grants, which will also be in jeopardy. In Guilford’s case, 8% of its $74.4 million school education budget amounts to $6 million which would be a significant loss.
Now that we know exactly what is at stake for the taxpayers in Guilford should the town decide not to comply with President Trumps executive orders regarding DEI, Title IX etc., let’s examine some of the stunning comments made at this April 21st Guilford Board of Finance meeting when only one member of the Guilford Board of Finance, Jonathan Trotta, spoke in favor of ending DEI in the Guilford school system when he said, “At the budget meetings I recommended that we stop DEI and focus on traditional education.” First Selectman Matt Hoey immediately silenced Trotta when he raised his voice and sarcastically proclaimed “That’s pretty innovative thinking Jon … thanks for going on the record about that.”
Guilford Board of Finance Chairman Michael Ayles then weighed in saying, “There is no way to isolate DEI (in Guilford Schools) … I look at it more as good luck trying to do that when it is embedded in everything that we do … I don’t even know how you would begin to think about it … It is so far-reaching and how would you quantify it tangibly? That’s why there is pushback because you can’t.” When Chairman Ayles said these things, he was more correct than he knew. Let me explain.
One of the first DEI consultants that Superintendent Paul Freeman hired in 2019 was Dr. Sharon Locke. She was hired to work with the Guilford School Leadership Team to “establish a systems framework for culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy to grow more equitable schools, not just an initiative, but as a way of being meant to infiltrate everything we do every day.”
Guilford Board of Finance Member Robert Hartman offered the following statement in support of Chairman Ayles comments, “Dr. Freeman alluded to this the last time we met. He said there is nothing that we do that would qualify for such programs that are funded, or otherwise specific to, DEI and Equity. It’s not black and white, it’s not cut and dry.” But this statement is demonstrably false.
The truth is that since the fall of 2019, the entire focus of Superintendent Freeman and the Guilford Board of Education has been their “Equity and Social Justice” Initiative. In fact, the Guilford Board of Education felt this was so important that they issued their “Statement on Addressing Equity and Social Justice in Guilford Public Schools” on April 26, 2021, in which the Board said we “are fully supportive of the work addressing equity and social justice within Guilford Public Schools. We support the ongoing curricular audit and the addition of a part-time Equity Liaison and the student teacher Residency Program.” Further, if you go to the Guilford Public School web site (www.guilfordps.org) click on “District” then click on “Employment”, you will see six recruitment videos one of which is entitled “Guilford Public Schools: Teaching in an Equity Focused District”.
In this video, Superintendent Freeman says, “In Guilford we are focused on Equity”. In this same video, Guilford Family Equity Liaison Rydell Harrison says his “position is so important because it speaks to the district’s commitment to Equity.” Even the new “Guilford Educator Evaluation Plan” approved by the Guilford BOE on July 8, 2024, begins by stating it’s “Foundational Belief” is “Equity”.
Further, on March 11, 2021, Superintendent Freeman gave a speech entitled “Equity and Social Justice in Guilford Public Schools” which was cosponsored by the “Guilford Public Library” and the group “Witness to History: Slavery in Guilford”. In this speech, Superintendent Freeman proclaimed that “we foregrounded race” and “that you cannot not talk about race”. He also said that "Being colorblind won’t solve the problems that are inherent in structures or societies or communities or schools or personal relationships if you are concerned about systemic racism … I have wholeheartedly embraced the idea that we have recognized the need to address race and equity … we must take purposeful action to address systemic injustice … that is our goal; that will be our plan.”
Additionally, as part of his “Equity and Social Justice Initiative”, Superintendent Freeman spent $6,000 of taxpayer money to purchase 300 copies of Ibram Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist” and gave a copy to every teacher in the Guilford School District. Then in his “Our Direction” from the desk of Paul Freeman newsletter from June of 2020, Superintendent Freeman said, “Ibram Kendi tells us that striving not to be racist is not good enough. To make our community better and more just, we must take actions that are actively antiracist … We are committed to being more intentionally antiracist.”
But there were more stunning comments at the April 21st Guilford Board of Finance meeting. Board member Meghan Scanlon doubled down on Chairman Michael Ayles comment that “there is no way you can isolate DEI … it is embedded in everything that we do” when she provided her definition of DEI. Specifically, Scanlon said “DEI is not just about race, it’s about neurodiversity and disabilities that are physical and mental … If you wrote down all the things that make you up and compare them to somebody else, that is diversity, equity and inclusion.” (If federal funds are withheld from Guilford Public Schools) “this to me is something … I think we should be investing in from the general fund balance.” To which Chairman Ayles voiced his agreement by concluding that Scanlon’s comments “couldn’t be any better well stated.”
On February 14, 2025, Craig Trainor, the Acting Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, sent a letter to every college and school district in the nation, informing them that “the Department will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions. The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent … The Department will vigorously enforce the law on qual terms as to all preschool, elementary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions, as well as state educational agencies, that receive financial assistance … Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights laws may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding.”
Whereas the primary focus of the Guilford Public School system has been “Equity and Social Justice” since the Fall of 2019; whereas our Guilford First Selectman and our Guilford Board of Finance apparently see no possible way to isolate and discontinue DEI; and whereas it appears that the Guilford Board of Finance will recommend that the town of Guilford cover any loss of Federal Grants as a result of not discontinuing DEI in the Guilford Public School System, by using the town’s rainy day fund, the taxpayers of Guilford should be prepared for their taxes to skyrocket in the near future.
The madness continues in Guilford.
Dave Holman is a resident of Guilford, Connecticut
