Ty Harris knows an edict could come down at any time, mandating that any effort labeled 鈥渄iversity, equity, and inclusion鈥� must end. As the DEI director of Virginia Beach鈥檚 public schools, that worries him. But he has spent the past few years building a case for the work that he leads鈥攐ne he hopes is compelling to his community both inside and outside the school district.
Harris, 47, is operating amid a strong political and cultural backlash to DEI, with a wave of state-level laws that have rolled back or restricted such efforts and the start of Donald Trump鈥檚 second presidential term in which he has pledged to crack down on DEI efforts. In Virginia, with a Republican governor , and a sometimes contentious and divided local school board, Harris navigated those choppy waters in 2022 to propose an equity plan for the school district. The ambitious plan鈥攚hich covers three years and addresses discipline, staff hiring, access to rigorous coursework, and creating a public-facing equity data dashboard for the district鈥攑assed the school board unanimously.
Colleagues credit Harris鈥檚 willingness to engage across the ideological divide for success. Harris knows his approach works well; he also knows data doesn鈥檛 hurt. Now the district鈥攚hich boasts 64,000 students in 86 schools鈥攑osts its data for the public to see: which student groups are represented in rigorous classes, which face high rates of discipline, and if students feel a sense of belonging in their schools.
To directly address what he called a 鈥渄ismal鈥� rating on belonging, Harris asked the principals of the district鈥檚 12 high schools to identify students who are representative of their school鈥檚 demographics and who aren鈥檛 already established student leaders. Those students would become the leaders of school-based coalitions to address issues that impact inclusivity and belonging.
These coalitions, which are student-led groups supported by educators or staff, meet at least once a month, and brainstorm ways to change school culture. That manifests differently depending on the school: a mural in one, positivity notes, a diversity week, and a community club to make sure no one spends lunch alone.
鈥淚 think what we鈥檝e done here in Virginia Beach, and the way that we鈥檝e done it, has set us up for even if the governor says, over the weekend, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want DEI at all,鈥� people will say, 鈥極K, well, we might have to rename the office, but I still want to continue all this stuff that guy鈥檚 doing,鈥欌�� Harris said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, that鈥檚 how you know that you know the work is moving forward.鈥�
Harris, a 2025 EdWeek Leaders To Learn From honoree, spoke to 91直播 about how he addresses DEI work broadly, and through the student-led coalition. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How has your background as a classroom teacher, principal, and in the U.S. Department of Education impacted your leadership style?
I have often been, for lack of a better word, an anomaly. There are very few minority male teachers, when I taught high school social studies, both in South Carolina and in Northern Virginia. I can say that experience really stuck with me鈥攏ot only the remainder of my teaching career, but as an administrator and at the department. For a lot of students, education is the only ticket to an improved lifestyle. I didn鈥檛 grow up with a lot of money. Single mom. Had it not been for sports, I don鈥檛 know if I would have gone to college. ... I didn鈥檛 really aspire to go to school for academic reasons. So looking at the work through that lens, like when I became a principal, when I worked at the Department of Education, I remembered my experiences and how there are a lot of kids that are like me who need education as their goal to get out of a sticky situation or a situation that鈥檚 less than ideal. 鈥� I always volunteered for everything that I could, even as a teacher. And I think having those experiences ... gave me more tools in my toolbox to be able to handle situations later in life, especially in this role now.
In a polarized climate, how can districts do DEI work like you do? Why is it important that they do?
They need to have a clear picture of their intended outcome; like they need to know what they鈥檙e working towards and how they鈥檙e going to measure success, and know whether or not what they鈥檙e doing is working. They also need to be able to leverage partnerships. You can鈥檛 do the work alone, and by bringing in varying perspectives, you鈥檙e going to get a clearer picture and get a much wider look at what鈥檚 happening and kind of what needs to be done to get to that goal that you鈥檝e set for yourself. And then aligning [your work and goals] to something that already exists. Like, for example, our work is aligned to our strategic framework. And so, you know, when I鈥檓 talking about the equity work in Virginia Beach, you鈥檙e going to hear references to things that we鈥檙e already doing.
If a district wants to develop an equity plan or a strategic framework, where should they start? And what should that work kind of look like?
Start with what you know. Start with your data: your academic, behavioral, [and,] if you鈥檝e captured social-emotional data. And then do a needs assessment, like what do you need in order to get to where you want to be? And it sounds so simple, but it鈥檚 a step that divisions often skip because they think they already know the answer. And so once you鈥檝e done that needs assessment, then, I would say, find a framework that will allow you to implement the things that need to be implemented. ... You鈥檙e going to have people who aren鈥檛 going to understand what you鈥檙e doing or why you鈥檙e doing it, and you have to be comfortable with that. You鈥檝e got to be willing to bring them along. And so if you have a framework, you have something that paints a clear picture of how we鈥檙e going to do this work, even if they don鈥檛 understand the why, if they can see the how, a lot of times I鈥檒l bring them around to the why, once they dive into the work.
How integral are students to the work that your office does? And why is the TIDE鈥擳ogetherness through Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity鈥擟oalition so important?
Students actually drive the work more than anything. 鈥� And we know that too many times we are doing things to students, rather than with students. 鈥� Recognizing that school is not the same today as it was when we were in school鈥擨 mean, it鈥檚 not the same even as it was five years ago, like before COVID, it鈥檚 changed since then. So we have to be willing to listen to the students. They have some really good ideas. Sometimes they don鈥檛 know how best to organize that, and that鈥檚 where the adult support can come in. That鈥檚 why TIDE is such a powerful initiative, because it is focused on students, but we have brought school-based staff, we have administrators, we have central office staff who are also part of that conversation, and as students are talking about the things that matter to them, you have the adults in the room that are able to look at, OK, from a system standpoint, this is what we need to do to make that outcome a reality.
