Virginia Attorney General Takes a Look at Another Woke School District after Magnet School Moves Away from Merit

Virginia’s After a special grand jury convened by the pair who indicted Loudoun County school officials, the Republican governor and attorney General are now looking into another liberal school district in D.C. suburbs.

Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares have turned their sights to Fairfax County, one of the nation’s largest school districts, after its magnet high school — once the top-ranked in the nation — allegedly withheld academic awards from students following a commitment to “equity” Instead of “achievements.”

“I am stunned by news reports alleging that information about National Merit Awards, as determined by student PSAT scores, was withheld from students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology until after important deadlines for college scholarships had passed,” Youngkin wrote to Miyares Tuesday.

“I believe this failure may have caused material harm to those students and their parents, and that this failure may have violated the Virginia Human Rights Act,” He wrote. “Parents matter. Students matter. We also know that achievement matters,” Youngkin wrote.

Hours later, Miyares — who has the authority to investigate violations of the Act — announced a press conference “to address Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology” The school is located nearby.

A National Merit Scholarship Commended student is a high school graduate who ranks among the top three percent in academic achievement in the country. Schools have always been quick to praise such students in the past. But Principal Ann Bonitatibus did not tell students of their award until the college admissions window had already passed — potentially depriving magnet school students of the chance to parlay their grueling academic work into admissions at prestigious schools, and saving their parents thousands of dollars by receiving academic scholarships, according to reporting by journalist Asra NomaniThe story was broken by.

Parent Shawna Yashar, who discovered that her son was affected, told Nomani that a school counselor indicated that the failure to notify students of the prestigious award was a deliberate choice, part of the school system’s commitment to “equity.”

Yashar said that the school’s Director of Student Services, Brandon Kosatka, told her on a phone call, “We want to recognize students for who they are as individuals, not focus on their achievements,” and that they didn’t want to “hurt” the feelings of those who didn’t achieve so highly.

Fairfax County schools have moved to a more modern location in recent years. “merit lottery” Following criticisms from Asians scoring high on the entrance tests, the magnet school allowed students to enroll. The school also paid $455,000 “equity” Training that schools demand “equal outcomes for every student, without exception.”

The transition from objective entrance exams into a lottery using a “holistic” model — which minority activists say is designed to purge the school of Asians — is too new to have affected seniors, but as the years progress, the move from merit to social-justice-based admissions is likely to result in fewer students scoring in the top three percent nationally, a finding that could be concealed by a pattern of withholding certificates.

The school district, which is usually secretive and charges parents exorbitant fees to obtain public records, has issued an uncommon apology. Assistant superintendent Fabio Zuluaga said, “It was a mistake to be honest.”

Nomani started to investigate the story and discovered that her son had been a graduate of the school without him knowing.

Parent activists say it reflects an outright hostility to academic competition as the result of race-obsessed leftist ideology taking over school systems — even prestigious math schools. Yashar said, “Keeping these certificates from students is theft by the state.”

Elicia Brand of the local Army of Parents demanded Bonitatibus’ firing and Kosatka’s removal from the jurisdiction of Fairfax County. “Don’t be fooled into thinking this is only happening in one school, in one state,” Brand stated. “Virginia is the tip of the spear, where ideologues test how much they can get away with. … This war on merit will not result in positive outcomes for anyone. Parents everywhere should use this as a cautionary tale and insist merit be required, rewarded, and loudly applauded.”

Fairfax County Public Schools brazenly defied Youngkin when he did away with mask mandates in schools, despite having claimed that the previous Democrat governor’s order requiring masks was binding.

Youngkin kept his campaign promise, and Miyares created a special grand jury to investigate the possible rape coverups in Loudoun County. Last month, the superintendent was joined by a spokesman. indicted.