Gov. Youngkin on Jan. 3 called for Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares to investigate allegations that information about National Merit Awards, as determined by student PSAT scores, was withheld from students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology until after important deadlines for college scholarships had passed.
“We need to get to the bottom of what appears to be an egregious, deliberate attempt to disadvantage high-performing students at one of the best schools in the country,” Youngkin said in a press statement. “Parents and students deserve answers, and Attorney General Miyares will initiate a full investigation.”
“I believe this failure may have caused material harm to those students and their parents, and that this failure may have violated the Virginia Human Rights Act,” the governor said.
Under Virginia law, the attorney general can, but is not obligated to, open an investigation upon request of the governor. Recently, Miyares’ office investigated the handling of sexual-assault allegations in Loudoun’s public-school system, leading to the indictment of the superintendent (who was fired by the School Board) and a school-system spokesman. Those cases are still pending.