At Lakenheath Gymnasium, a school for US military members in Britain, a club for homosexual students and their allies can no longer meet. A group of women in STEM has also been on hold.
At the Ramstein Gymnasium in Germany, groups for Spanish and Asian heritage students as well as the Pride and Ally Club were among those who were paused.
And worldwide, in schools attending military families, books are reviewed in response to Trump’s administration’s orders that degrade gender identity and diversity, equality and integration.
So far, few American school areas have made sweeping changes in response to Trump’s command orders. Most K-12 schools operate largely under local and state control, with limited intervention by the federal government.
But a school system run by the Department of Defense, which serves about 67,000 students in the kindergarten through the Gymnasium on military bases around the world, is an exception. In the context of the federal government, the schools of the Department of Defense have rushed to answer.
In addition to the pauses in some gender -related kinship associations and breeds and reviews of certain books, pride decorations have been removed and concerts and performances of black history have been canceled, according to interviews with students and parents and a copy of a memorandum.
This is a striking change for a school system that has been historically insulated by political battles in education and whose mathematics and reading results are usually among the best nation.
Defense schools are global, with locations on some military bases in the United States, but also in countries such as Belgium and Japan. The student body, like the army itself, is racially and socio -economically different, a story dating from the creation of the school system, in part, to serve students of military families in American south, when local schools remained separated.
“Diversity is like the basic principle of our schools,” said Kadyn, 16, inferior to Lakenheath Gymnasium, northeast of Cambridge, who asked to use only his name because he is a child of a federal employee.
In his school, he said: “Everyone is welcome” signs, which included a rainbow flag and a symbol of black life, had been removed from the classrooms. He added that some foreign flags had also been removed. “I feel we are losing the essence of what makes our schools thrive,” he said.
Will Griffin, a representative of the schools of the Department of Defense, said the school system reviewed its policies to comply with the orders of President Trump and Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, who called for an end to the months of cultural awareness, such as the Women’s History.
Students have the right to participate in groups led by students, Mr Griffin said. However, student associations also need a teacher to oversee meetings and teachers in defense schools are federal employees subject to new orders.
It is likely that students’ affinity groups will be able to start again with employees supervising unpaid capacity.
“We will continue to remain focused on providing a strict, high quality educational experience to students associated with military to prepare them for success in college, career and life,” he said.
In a note on February 5, defense officials ordered schools not to use certain materials, including the book “Being Nicole”, on the journey of a transsexual and her family, referred to as an independent reading novel to the sixth grade. A biography of Albert Cashier, a union army soldier in the Civil War, was also listed, but he fought and lived as a man, who was included in some elementary school material.
Material in advanced classology courses on gender identity and sexuality were also out of bounds.
But the commands have also led to confusion and uncertainty, as Principals and teachers are trying to interpret guidance and librarians revise books into more than 100 schools around the world.
Actress Julianne Moore made headlines when she said her book “Freckleface Strawberry” for a 7 -year -old girl who does not like her freckles but learns to embrace her differences, had been drawn to review. “I can only wonder what is so controversial about this image book,” wrote Moore, who attended a defense high school in Frankfurt on Instagram.
But from this week, “Freckleface Strawberry” is available for checkout, Mr Griffin said. He said that most books under consideration were not part of the official curriculum, but they were additional books available in classrooms or libraries.
“Our manager tells us that he is not going to ask the library to remove the books on Rosa Parks or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Allie Allen, the mother of three children attending defense schools in Stuttgart, Germany. But a book that states that the month of black history can be removed, he said.
“There is not very accurate guidance,” he said.
Students are also waiting for Limbo, said Sophia Carey, 16, inferior to a defense high school in Germany.
She wanted to create a girls’ club in her high school, which would have held an assembly for women’s history, brought female speakers working in the army and science, and included a community work to offer female products in women’s baths and community.
An obstacle to her club and others, she said, found a teacher who could oversee. “Everything is so uncertain,” he said.
Eric adelson They contributed reports.
