Fairfax County residents get one more chance tonight to weigh in on recommendations to equalize racial enrollment and increase considerations for students applying for admission to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Enrollment at Thomas Jefferson, in the 6500 block of Braddock Road west of Alexandria, is highly desired, and many industries are coaching youths to apply, said Paul Regnier, spokesman for Fairfax County schools.
Nearly 92 percent of Thomas Jefferson graduates go on to colleges, universities and post-secondary schools specializing in science and technology.
The school board has heard from hundreds of parents, students and alumni about recommendations from a blue ribbon commission made up of admissions directors from the University of Virginia, other universities and colleges, including Yale University, and magnet schools in other states.
In June, the commission, created by the board in December, reported that Thomas Jefferson High School’s student admissions policy was “significantly inferior to that of most highly selective high schools and post-secondary institutions that have maintained high academic standards while achieving substantially more inclusive student populations.”
By yesterday’s deadline, 35 residents had signed up to speak at a tonight’s meeting of the Fairfax County School Board at Jackson Middle School at 7, Mr. Regnier said.
The commission said Jefferson’s student applications should be studied more thoroughly and more factors besides test scores and grade point averages should be considered.
Black students make up about 1 percent of Jefferson’s 1600-plus student body, compared with about 9 percent of the Fairfax County population; Asian and Pacific Islanders represent about 28 percent of students and about 13 percent of population; Hispanics are about 2 percent of the student body and about 11 percent of population. Whites are about 65 percent of the students compared with about 70 percent of the county population.
In other county schools, black students constitute about 11 percent of enrollment and Hispanics 14 percent, according to 2003 school-enrollment records.
The school board is scheduled to act on the commission’s recommendations on Sept. 9 during a meeting at Jackson Middle School.
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