Prestigious high school fails to mark ‘honors’ courses on official transcripts: Report

A prestigious high school is allegedly failing to mark which classes are honor courses on student’s official transcripts used for college admissions, according to a report by Parents Defending Education (PDE), an organization focused on parental rights in education.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology (TJHSST) is failing to note which classes a student has taken that are honors classes and carry an additional Grade Point Average weight of 0.5, according to a report by PDE. The group obtained transcripts from multiple schools within Fairfax County Public School District, but only TJHSST failed to distinguish honors classes on official transcripts, which can affect a student’s admission to higher education institutions, according to PDE.

“Why on earth would the nation’s former #1 magnet school in the country hide a student’s hard-earned achievement?” Nicole Neily, president of PDE, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This appears to be yet another attempt to kneecap top-performers by misrepresenting and downplaying students’ official school records, thereby making them look less accomplished than they truly are. These students – and their families – deserve answers.” (RELATED: Virginia School District Seeks Feedback On New ‘Gender Combined’ Sex-Ed Lessons With ‘Inclusive’ Language)

The school told PDE that its failure to note honors classes is “nuanced” and that it “has received several requests over the years to list Honors on the transcript” but has not made the change, the report showed.

The report comes after Asra Nomani, a parental rights in education activist, reported that administrators at TJHSST had been withholding the National Merit Scholarship commendation, an honor used for college applications and to obtain scholarships, from mostly Asian students in an effort to not “hurt” the feelings of students who did not earn the award. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is investigating the entire school district over the withholding of the award from students.

🧵 Your head will explode! Reporting an @IWN investigation published @CityJournal, I just learned, TWO YEARS LATER, my son is a National Merit Commended Student in the top 3% of students. His principal hides the honor from families as @fcpsnews chases “equal outcomes” for kids. pic.twitter.com/Cay2Ep98ry

— Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani) December 21, 2022

At least 17 schools within Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Prince William County failed to notify students, mainly Asian, of the National Merit Scholarship commendation. Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin called for legislation that would prohibit educators from withholding any recognition that could affect a student’s higher education admission.

TJHSST did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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