School Board Rubber Stamps “Equity Policy” in Wee Hours

In a bizarre meeting that sometimes proved the “Law of Triviality,” the Fairfax County School Board unanimously approved a controversial “Equity Policy” at 12:30 a.m. on June 27. How the Meeting Unfolded The School Board’s meetings are user-unfriendly.  They begin at 7:00 p.m., but the discussion of pending business often doesn’t begin until 9:00 p.m.…

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Rhetoric v. Reality in the New “Equity” Policy

After a working session of the Fairfax County School Board a couple of days ago, a new draft of the proposed Equity Policy was hurriedly drafted, and then posted on the FCPS website at 3:30 Friday afternoon.  A meeting will be held Monday evening, June 26, to stamp it with the Board’s final approval.  It…

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National Merit Awards Controversy — Update

As previously reported, a controversy erupted in December of last year regarding delays by administrators in the Fairfax County Public School system (FCPS) in notifying students and families about prestigious National Merit “commended student” awards.  In response, the FCPS Superintendent announced that a law firm was being hired to conduct an independent investigation into the…

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Coalition for TJ v. School Board — Further Analysis

The two-judge majority in Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board concluded that the School Board’s revised admissions policy did not have a disparate, adverse impact on Asian American applicants to the high school; indeed, according to the court, this group was helped, not hurt, by the new admissions criteria. Having parsed through the…

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FCPS Consideration of “Equity Policy” Coming Soon

A proposed “Equity Policy” for the Fairfax County Public School system (FCPS) will be considered by the county School Board at a work session on June 20 and will come up for final approval at the Board’s June 26 meeting, just five weeks from now.  This is despite the fact that a draft of the…

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Fairfax School Board Is Sued Over National Merit Secrecy

Fairfax Schools Monitor has sued the Fairfax County School Board to compel the release of its factual findings concerning the National Merit “commended student” controversy.  The suit was filed on April 27 in the Fairfax County General District Court under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. (“FOIA”). Background In December 2022 an article in the…

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Fairfax School Board Acts to Streamline Its Meetings

The Fairfax County School Board took a positive step at its April 13, 2023 meeting by adopting procedures to reduce virtue-signaling speeches by Board members.   There are some ambiguities about the new guidelines, but the overall effect should be to reduce the time devoted at Board meetings to formalities so that more time can be…

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Did Fairfax Schools Hide Academic Awards from Families — Update

On March 29, 2023, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) published the “Key Findings” of a hired law firm’s investigation into allegations that school officials had failed to inform students and parents of National Merit “commended student” awards.  The document is HERE.   “Key Findings” concedes that students in several FCPS high schools didn’t receive timely notices…

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