The battle over Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s student admissions policy isn’t quite over after all.
More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court passed on an opportunity to weigh in, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares accused Fairfax County Public Schools today (Wednesday) of “intentional” discrimination against Asian American students applying to the magnet school in Annandale.
A state investigation found that acceptance of Asian American students to Thomas Jefferson High School (also known as TJ) has declined since the Fairfax County School Board updated its admissions policy five years ago — a result that Miyares claims was “the intended outcome.”
“Public officials entrusted with educating our children knowingly and deliberately used race as a factor in a public schools admissions process, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is a clear violation of civil rights laws, both at federal and state level,” Miyares said during a press conference at the Korean Community Center (6601 Little River Turnpike) in Lincolnia.
The investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Office alleges that FCPS violated state and federal civil rights laws — specifically, Virginia Human Rights Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — by carrying out the policy change, which was intended to increase the admission of students from underrepresented backgrounds, particularly Black and Hispanic students.
Prior to the policy change, applicants were required to undertake a standardized test. Their grade point average, teacher recommendations and writing samples were also considered.
Following an outcry over so few Black students being accepted that the number couldn’t be reported, the school board voted in October 2020 to eliminate the standardized test and an application fee. It also established a holistic approach that includes a “Portrait of a Graduate” sheet where students make a case for their skills, a problem-solving essay, and “experience factors,” allowing consideration of whether a student is low-income, in special education or not a native English speaker.
The school offers admission to the 550 students who receive the highest evaluations based on that holistic review, though the top 1.5% of students in each public middle school’s eighth-grade class is guaranteed acceptance. A GPA of 3.5 or higher in math, English, science, social studies and a world language is required, among other academic criteria.
After the changes took effect in 2021 for the class of 2025, FCPS reported that TJ had accepted its most diverse class ever, including the most Black and Hispanic students in four years and an increase in economic and geographic diversity.
However, Asian students received 56 fewer offers than they did the previous year, despite 64 more seats being available, Miyares says. He claims the changes were intended to decrease the number of Asian students, citing various communications between school board members that indicated an “anti-Asian” sentiment.
For the Class of 2024, the final one prior to the admissions policy changes, TJ extended offers to 486 students, 73% of them Asian. Asian students continue to receive around 60% of offers each year, including for the Class of 2029 that was announced on April 28.
A group of parents organized as the Coalition for TJ previously challenged the policy changes, suing the school board for alleged discrimination against Asian students. A state appeals court sided with FCPS in May 2023, finding that the “race-neutral” policy isn’t discriminatory, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to pick up the case, even after it struck down affirmative action programs at the college level.
Miyares had launched a state investigation into the TJ admissions policy changes in January 2023, holding a town hall at the Korean Community Center the following month to discuss his allegations.
While it’s unclear what action, if any, is planned at the state level, Miyares, who is seeking reelection this November, says the case has been referred to the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice for federal enforcement.
The Education Department has recently pressured public schools across the country to follow President Donald Trump’s executive orders barring diversity and inclusion programs or else risk losing federal funding.
When asked for comment by FFXnow, Fairfax County Public Schools responded that the issue “has already been fully litigated.”
“A federal appellate court determined there was no merit to arguments that the admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against any group of students,” FCPS said. “Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) division leadership and counsel are currently reviewing the documents released today by the Attorney General and will issue a more detailed response in the coming days. FCPS remains committed to providing a world class education for all of our students.”
