Va. school keeps Merit awards a secret in the name of ‘equity’


Freshman Donald Wiggins takes a final exam at the Forestville Military Academy January 21, 2004 in Forestville, Maryland. Most of the students at Forestville are from low-income families and rely on the
Freshman Donald Wiggins takes a final exam at the Forestville Military Academy January 21, 2004 in Forestville, Maryland. Most of the students at Forestville are from low-income families and rely on the “free-lunch” program. The public military school was created to give students who could not normally afford a private military school the benefits of a military style of disciplined learning. (Photo by Micah Walter/Getty Images)

OAN Roy Francis
UPDATED 1: 56 PM PT – Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia is under fire from parents for allegedly delaying notifications of academic honors due to ‘equity.’

Fairfax County parents are outraged after learning they were not formally notified that their children had been gifted an exclusive merit scholarship. Alumni are also now only discovering that they too had received said award but had no idea until after they had already graduated.

The delayed awards were given out by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The corporation recognizes top-performing high school students nationwide. As a result, it gives students an advantage to be accepted into college and receive further scholarships.

This move caused an uproar as scholarship recipients who had applied early to institutions were unable to add the award to their college applications when submitted before the deadline. Both students and parents were emotionally and financially impacted as a result from the school board’s decision.

“This year the entire controversy just blew up because the kids got their certificate,” Fairfax County parent Asra Nomani said. “Weeks after early college application deadlines, just dropped on their desks as if it was just another piece of paper.”

Nomani highlighted the fact that she is not the only parent that spoke out about the controversy. Other parents had issues with how the school and school district have been behaving.

“And this amazing mom named Shawna Yashar started asking questions, just like every parent’s got to do,” she continued. “From issues of the drag queen story hours to indoctrination in the schools, this is another form of this race to the bottom that the schools are going through right now.”

Other changes the school has implemented is that they are now giving students 50% credit for just showing up to class without doing work. In addition, students will not receive any zeros on assignments. These changes being made are to advocate “equal outcomes for every student, without exception.”

These issues however, are not exclusive to Virginia schools Nomani noted, the “war on merit” is an issue within the education system nationwide.





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