DOJ probes top Virginia high school over alleged anti-Asian discrimination in admissions

The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia over allegations that its Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) discriminated against Asian American students in its admissions process.

The probe follows a referral from Virginia Atty. Gen. Jason Miyares, who announced on Wednesday that his office found reasonable cause that FCPS violated the Virginia Human Rights Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Internal communications allegedly show school board members acknowledging that its admissions policy overhaul was designed to decrease Asian American admissions, with one writing “there has been an anti-Asian feel underlying some of this” and another saying the proposal would “whiten our schools and kick ou[t] Asians.”

DOJ Civil Rights Division Chief Harmeet Dhillon confirmed her office will investigate the matter, while the Department of Education separately launched its own Title VI investigation based on Miyares’ referral.

In 2020, FCPS replaced TJ’s merit-based system that included standardized testing and a $100 application fee with a holistic review process that considers “experience factors” like special education status, socioeconomic background and English proficiency. Additionally, evaluators were unable to access information about the applicants’ race.

While the new policy boosted Black and Hispanic enrollment, it saw a sharp decline — from 73% to 54% — in Asian enrollment in just one year. TJ also dropped from the top national ranking to No. 14, with National Merit semifinalists falling from 165 to 81 for the first class admitted under the revised process.

Parent group Coalition for TJ sued the school board in January 2022, alleging racial discrimination against Asian American students. A federal judge subsequently found the revised process to be racially discriminatory, but an appeals court reversed that decision, noting that the policy did not disparately impact Asian Americans. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case last year.

FCPS defended its policy in response to the latest probe. “This matter has already been fully litigated. A federal appellate court determined there was no merit to arguments that the admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against any group of students,” the school district said, promising a more detailed response in the coming days.