Virginia’s attorney general is widening his probe into delayed award notifications at Fairfax County Public Schools, after principals from at least two additional schools reported delays in notifying students of their National Merit Commended Scholar recognition.
The original complaint of delayed notifications came out of the county’s prestigious magnet school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. In response, last week, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares launched a civil rights investigation into the school for the “possibility of unlawful discrimination in violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act.”
Miyares also announced a separate investigation into whether the county’s new admissions policy for the prestigious magnet school violated state law.
Since then, principals at both Westfield High School in Chantilly and Langley High School in McLean sent out apologies for not notifying students at their schools.
In a letter to the school community Monday, Superintendent Michelle Reid she “proactively communicated this new information to the Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
In light of that, Miyares said his investigation will now include all of the Fairfax County Public Schools System.
“It’s concerning that multiple schools throughout Fairfax County withheld merit awards from students,” Miyares said in a news release.
Reid is scheduled to speak to families at Langley and Westfield on Tuesday night.
“Staff has been contacting colleges where these students have applied to inform them of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation commendations,” Reid said in the community letter Monday. “We are sincerely sorry for this error. Each and every student, their experience and success, remain our priority.”
Last week, Fairfax County Public Schools blamed human error for the delayed notifications at TJ, and also announced an independent investigation into the situation. It also promised to cooperate with any state investigation.
Miyares said in a letter to the school system on Monday that the delayed or withheld notification “may constitute unlawful discrimination” and that it will investigate to see if the race or national origin of the award recipients led to the delayed notifications.
“If any of the protected bases listed in the Virginia Human Rights Act was a motivating
factor for Fairfax County Public Schools’ or any high school’s decision to withhold any
information from a student regarding any recognition from the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation, or any other merit recognition, then FCPS has violated the Virginia Human Rights
Act,” the letter stated.
About 50,000 students nationwide who have the highest PSAT scores are recognized as National Merit award winners, or “Commended Students.” About 16,000 qualify as semifinalists and are eligible to compete for scholarships, according to the program’s website.
