A group of Fairfax County parents is demanding action after they say administrators at one of the top high schools in northern Virginia delayed informing students that they had qualified for a national award.
Parents tell 7News that officials at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology need to be held accountable for not notifying students that they earned a prestigious national award ahead of looming college application deadlines.
“To my shock, I learned two years later that my son had been a commended student in the fall of 2020,” said Asra Nomani, an alumni parent of a TJ student. “He never found out, countless other families and students never found out.”
7News spoke to Nomani, co-founder of Coalition for TJ, about what happened. In her investigation, Nomani says she discovered that this has been happening for years. Now, she and some other parents are calling on principal Ann Bonitatibus and Brandon Kosatka, the director of student services at TJ, to be fired.
Nomani said back in April that the school’s principal got a list from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation of 240 students who would be regarded as commended students and semi-finalists, but that list and the certificates were delayed by the printing company because they hadn’t put enough stamps on the package to TJ.
“There were so many certificates. And the package didn’t arrive till mid-October. But it was plenty of time for parents and students to learn about the award so that they could put it on early application college admissions packages that have deadlines starting October 31 and November 1, that was missed,” Nomani said.
Nomani says the act is a “sabotage” on the futures, college admissions and scholarship opportunities for children.
“It has monetary significance, it has career significance, and this, this sabotaging of children is happening as Fairfax County school system puts out a strategy in which they are saying explicitly that they want equal outcomes for every student. We all want every student to thrive in society and in our schools. But we do not do that by denying kids opportunities. I think that’s something that we should all agree upon,” Nomani said.
Srilekha Palle, parent of a freshman at TJ, says she feels like it’s a criminal act.
“I see my own daughter, even though she’s a freshman, she works extremely hard, trying to kind of get around good grades. So to take away something of that kind of achievement, not letting kids know is literally killing their ambitions, their goals, their opportunities to get into a good school. So for me, I can’t imagine anything else that you can say. I think it’s just not right,” Palle said.
Nomani and Palle are demanding a public townhall meeting with Fairfax County school board members and the superintendent. The parents also want them to issue a statement condemning the withholding of the award and start a public investigation.
“The silence of the school board and superintendent is deafening and reveals their complicity in a coverup that stole scholarships from students,” said Nomani.
“Yes, we believe that Kosatka should be fired,” said Nomani. “And we demand a public townhall meeting with the school board members and superintendent and we want them to issue a statement condemning the withholding of the award and start a public investigation. We want a regional board overseeing TJ as is supposed to do. The silence of the school board and superintendent is deafening and reveals their complicity in a coverup that stole scholarships from students.”
Friday morning, Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears announced that she has “reached out to the Governor and Attorney General and asked for an investigation.”
“This is reprehensible. I have reached out to the Governor and Attorney General and asked for an investigation. Our children’s education is not a zero-sum game. We cannot punish success in order to have “equal outcomes at all costs,” she tweeted.
A Fairfax County Public Schools spokesperson released the following statement to 7News regarding the claims:
“As part of our ongoing review into this matter, Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) current understanding is that the delay in notifying National Merit Scholarship commended students was a one-time human error in the fall of 2022 only. Once the issue regarding the fall 2022 notifications came to light, counselors sent emails and made follow-up calls to each college where these students had applied and informed them of the National Merit Scholarship Commendations.
To suggest a deliberate intent to withhold this information would be inaccurate and contrary to the values of FCPS.
FCPS understands the hard work and dedication of each and every student who competes for college acceptance and scholarship opportunities. We are continuing to look into this matter and will take any necessary steps to ensure consistency in appropriate and timely notification of National Merit recognitions going forward.”
Nomani says this is coming at time when Fairfax County Public Schools is emphasizing equity in schools.
“We have a war on merit happening in Fairfax County Virginia,” said Nomani. “We have a system in place now called equitable grading in which students get a 50% even if they don’t turn in an assignment. We are in a race to the bottom.”
Palle agreed: “I think meritocracy is going down the drain in America.”
In response, FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid said she’s made it her “life’s work to ensure equitable opportunities and equal outcomes for each and every student.”