The investigation will probe allegations of racial discrimination at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology involving the school's controversial admissions policy and claims school officials delayed notifying students of national merit awards.
Virginia’s top prosecutor said he will launch an investigation into allegations of racial discrimination at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.It followed claims from a group of parents that the school withheld notifications this fall from students whom the National Merit Scholarship Corporation named “commended students,” a distinction given to the nation’s top standardized test takers. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday called on Miyares to start an investigation.
Fairfax County Public Schools has denied deliberately keeping the award information from students and blamed the delay on a “one-time” error. School staff members have since contacted the colleges where commended scholars applied to update their records.But parents say the delay prevented their students from including the distinction on early-decision college applications, potentially keeping them from competing for opportunities such as scholarships and honors programs.
Miyares also took aim at the school’s admissions process, which was adopted in 2020 and includes a “holistic review” system that takes into account factors such as an applicant’s socioeconomic status. The new process also eliminated a difficult entrance test and $100 application fee, and is intended toA group of parents sued, arguing the new admissions process discriminates against Asian Americans, which school officials have repeatedly denied.
Miyares on Wednesday called the admissions process one that has “undermined the excellence in favor of a system engineered to achieve the school system a preferred balances on the races rather than actual racial equality.”The first admittance class under the new system saw about 25 percent of offers made to low-income students, 11 percent to Hispanic students and 7 percent to Black students. Those groups had previously accounted for between 1 percent and 5 percent of Thomas Jefferson classes.
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