Maine’s Education Department will not sign a letter certifying to the federal government that it has removed diversity, equity and inclusion programs from school in compliance with Title VI.

In a message to school districts Thursday, Maine’s education leaders said that they would not sign the letter, and asked that superintendents also not sign it.

“After consultation with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, it was determined that signing the new certification would bind the Maine DOE to language of executive orders or other federal guidance without the force of law, and that lacked clarity regarding what was, or was not, prohibited,” the message said. “These were critical considerations, given the potential consequence of a loss of federal funding.”

The directive stems from a February “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights that gave all states 14 days to remove DEI programming to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which banned affirmative action in college admissions.

The deadline for that letter passed without consequence, and on April 3 the department issued a new memo that gave states and districts 10 more days to sign.

Because of a lawsuit against the directive in New Hampshire federal court, that deadline was extended to April 24. A judge ruled Thursday that the directive overstepped the executive branch’s legal authority, and said the administration did not provide an adequate definition of DEI. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling.

The Maine DOE said that while it declined to sign the compliance certification, it did issue a letter to the federal department saying that the state and individual school districts already comply with Title VI.

The directive from the Department of Education is based on a belief, outlined in the “Dear Colleague” letter, that the Students v. Harvard ruling can be broadly applied to any educational programing that treats people differently based on race, including scholarships, financial aid, administrative support, housing and graduation ceremonies. The agency said it would vigorously enforce that interpretation and that states and districts that did not comply could lose federal funding.

Some states have signed the letter, about a dozen have declined and others, like Vermont, have certified compliance but told the administration they disagree with the premise.

Maine is also facing the loss of its federal funding through an ongoing disagreement with the Trump administration over transgender athlete policies and Title IX. The Justice Department sued the state last week, seeking to stop athletes from competing, and said it was beginning the process of terminating federal education funds to the state.