Posts Tagged ‘Fairfax County School Board’
Fairfax School Board Defies Virginia’s Transgender Policy
After leaking its closed-door decision to transgender advocates, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) announced on August 15 that it would ignore the Virginia Board of Education’s recently issued transgender policy. The decision was revealed in a community letter from the FCPS Superintendent, which is HERE. Not a word or comma in FCPS’ existing policy will…
Read MoreThe Wheels of Justice Turn Slowly — Update on National Merit Litigation
The Fairfax County General District Court conducted a pretrial conference this morning in Spooner v. Fairfax County School Board, which seeks to compel the school system (“FCPS”) to produce an outside law firm’s report on its investigation into the failure of several high schools to provide timely notice to students and families of “commended student” awards…
Read MoreSchool Board Amends Title of Equity Policy — Why?
On June 26, 2023, the Fairfax County School Board adopted a new, sweeping “Equity Policy.” At its next meeting, on July 13, the title was changed. It is now called the “Educational Equity Policy.” The amendment was on the meeting’s “consent agenda” and was adopted without any discussion, so the public doesn’t know who proposed…
Read MoreWill the Harvard/U.N.C. Decision Affect the TJ Admissions Case?
On May 23 of this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, overturned a federal district court’s ruling that the new admissions standards for the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (“TJ”) violated the “equal protection of the laws” mandate of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. …
Read MoreSchool 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.…
Read MoreRhetoric 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…
Read MoreSchool Board Reaffirms Intent to Ram Through a New “Equity Policy” without Public Engagement
The Fairfax County Public School System (FCPS) revealed a proposed “Equity Policy” on June 14. No prior draft had been released. Nevertheless, FCPS scheduled it for discussion at a work session on June 21 and for a final vote on June 26. See “New Equity Policy — FCPS Schedules Key Vote with No Time…
Read MoreNew “Equity” Policy — FCPS Schedules Key Vote with No Time for Public Engagement!
Two days ago, on June 14, the Fairfax County School System quietly posted its proposed “Equity Policy” on its website. The School Board is scheduled to consider it just four days from now, on June 20, and to approve it the following week, on June 20. The notice on the FCPS website says the policy…
Read MoreNational 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…
Read MoreCoalition 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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