FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Fairfax school leaders are considering changing the way one of the most prestigious high schools in America admits its students.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Fairfax County, is a regional “Governor’s School.” According to the Virginia Department of Education, Governor’s Schools give gifted students academic, visual and performing arts opportunities beyond what is normally available at their locally zoned school.
US News and World Report also named Thomas Jefferson the top high school in the country in 2020.
However, lately, the demographic makeup of the school has become a point of concern. Some people say they are worried Thomas Jefferson is not as diverse as it should be.
"We have heard from many members of the TJ community — current and former — who have raised concerns about diversity at the school," said Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Brabrand in a recent statement. “TJ must reflect the diversity, equity and inclusiveness that is core to the mission and values of Fairfax County Public Schools.”
In an effort to address that concern, Brabrand has proposed changing Thomas Jefferson’s admissions policy.
Currently, students from Fairfax County, Arlington County, Falls Church City, Loudoun County and Prince William County are required to take an admissions test to become a part of the student body at Thomas Jefferson.
Interested applicants must also pay a $100 application fee, have a 3.0 grade-point average in core classes, and submit teacher recommendations and personal essays in order to be considered for a seat at the school.
The proposed admissions policy would eliminate the admissions test, application fee and need for teacher recommendations. Instead, FCPS would look to create a “merit lottery” for Thomas Jefferson admissions that would select interested, qualified students, at random, from certain geographic “lottery pathways.”
FCPS says the lottery pathways would be set up to ensure all interested students are provided equal access to the school across the counties and cities Thomas Jefferson serves.
“We believe there has been overreliance upon the current admissions test, which tends to reflect upon the socioeconomic background of test takers or the ability for students to obtain private test preparation instead of students’ true academic potential,” Brabrand stated. “This can discourage potential candidates from applying or advancing to the pool of semifinalists.”
In a recent meeting, Brabrand said the demographics of the entire Fairfax County Public School system, in fall 2019, broke down as follows: 37.8% White, 26.8 percent Hispanic, 19.5% Asian, 9.8% Black, and 5.7% other.
FCPS’s school profile for Thomas Jefferson, during the entire 2019-2020 school year, showed the following demographic breakdown at the institution: 71.5 percent Asian, 19.48% White, 2.6% Hispanic, 1.72% Black, and 4.7% other.
The proposal to change Thomas Jefferson’s admissions policy has touched off a spirited debate in Northern Virginia.
A local group named “The Coalition for TJ” has come out against Brabrand’s plan. It argues the proposal would hurt diversity at the school.
The group said it looked at demographic data and is concerned the proposal would only temporarily increase the number of Hispanic and Black students at Thomas Jefferson while drastically increasing the number of White students there at the expense of the school’s Asian student body.
Yuyan Zhou has two students at Thomas Jefferson and another two kids who have already graduated from the school.
She said she came to America shortly after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 drawn to the belief that hard work in the country would be rewarded fairly.
Now, Zhou said she is worried students who work hard to one day study at Thomas Jefferson may not receive the education that they deserve.
“Those students who truly, truly work hard and truly, truly have the appetite, and truly, truly want to get into TJ, and they may not get a chance,” she said.
Suparna Dutta has a sophomore at Thomas Jefferson.
She said that instead of pushing through a change to the school’s admissions policy, FCPS administrators should work to create more institutions like Thomas Jefferson.
“Why inject identity politics and destroy a Governor's School program?” Dutta asked. “Just create more [schools] like TJ. I think FCPS has enough taxpayer money. It should be using it constructively rather than destructively.”
“The TJ Alumni Action Group” has come out in favor of the new admissions proposal.
The group’s vice president, Andrew Hayes, graduated in 1999 from Thomas Jefferson.
He said he wants to expand the opportunities he had at Thomas Jefferson to other students of diverse backgrounds.
“I've spoken to a lot of my fellow alumni, particularly the Black and Latinx students, and they had radically different experiences than I did,” he said. “And I don't think anybody with a conscience can just let that slide.”
Jiunwei Chen graduated from Thomas Jefferson in 1997. He now works in the tech industry in the Seattle area and says he sees many of the same equity issues in that field as he sees with his alma mater.
“My stance is there's no silver bullet to tackling these things,” he said. “Not just one thing can fix them all. But I'm hopeful that if we can solve this problem at a high school like TJ, we can replicate that progress elsewhere.”
On September 23, FCPS will hold a town hall to further discuss Brabrand’s proposal. The FCPS school board is expected to make a final decision as to what it should do by October 9.
FCPS says the new admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson could go into effect during the next admissions cycle if the school board decides that a change is needed.