An elite public high school in northern Virginia discriminated against Asian American families when it overhauled its admissions policies amid a push to increase Black and Hispanic representation at the school, lawyers argued Tuesday.
A lawsuit, filed by a group of parents against the Fairfax County Schools board, claims high-achieving Asian teens are being disadvantaged by the new admissions system that prioritizes racial balance over merit.
During the 2021-22 school year - the first curricular year since the new policy took effect - Asian admission dropped from 73 percent to 53 percent, according to district data.
The percentage of black students rose from one percent during the 2020-21 school year to seven percent this year. Hispanic representation ratcheted from three to 11 percent and white enrolment jumped from 18 percent to 22 percent at the Alexandria school.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - known for churning out top-tier students who go on to attend Ivy League schools - previously accepted students based on a 'race-neutral standardized admissions test,' the lawsuit said.
That policy was replaced with a 'merit based lottery' after officials began feeling pressure to diversity enrolment following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis cop.
The case has garnered significant attention in part because of the school's prestigious status: it was ranked the best public high school in the nation by U. S. News and World Report.
But black and Hispanic students have been woefully underrepresented in the student body for decades.
In June 2020, weeks after Floyd's death, statistics were released that showed the number of black students attending Thomas Jefferson was 'too small to report.'
Fairfax County School Board member Karen Corbett Sanders responded by calling the results 'unacceptable' and promising 'intentful action,' according to court documents.
Likewise, fellow trustee said during a June 18 board meeting: 'In looking at what has happened to George Floyd, we now know that our shortcomings are far too great... so we must recognize the unacceptable numbers of such things as the unacceptable numbers of African Americans that have been accepted to [our school]'
School principal Ann Bonitatibus responded by saying diversity statistics did 'not reflect the racial composition in FCPS,' according to court docu... (Read more)
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