TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this waiting around…maybe they’re authenticating the submitted docs with IRS records/tax filings/banking institutes etc….

Lol.

A public school system does not have access to IRS data.

The TJ admissions office is going to rescind few, if any, offers of admission.

FCPS would have access to which FCPS students are eligible for FARMS but not other county's or private school applicants; hence, the need to request documentation.

FCPS only had information from the 2019-2020 school year. A lot could have changed since then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this waiting around…maybe they’re authenticating the submitted docs with IRS records/tax filings/banking institutes etc….

Lol.

A public school system does not have access to IRS data.

The TJ admissions office is going to rescind few, if any, offers of admission.

FCPS would have access to which FCPS students are eligible for FARMS but not other county's or private school applicants; hence, the need to request documentation.

FCPS only had information from the 2019-2020 school year. A lot could have changed since then.

I think it's great that they included this question to help identify and remove the cheaters.

[Anonymous]

How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

I thought the meals question was a stroke of genius. It helped root out the cheaters and will help detoxify the environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

I thought the meals question was a stroke of genius. It helped root out the cheaters and will help detoxify the environment.

They won't root out anything. They are too lazy except when it comes to pandering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

I thought the meals question was a stroke of genius. It helped root out the cheaters and will help detoxify the environment.

Yes it was a brilliant move to get the worst applicants to ID themselves.

[Anonymous]

This is what happened.

The TJ Admissions office allowed parents to either 1) produce documentation or 2) file the online FRM meals application. The online application had to be submitted before 4:00 on June 10th.

Sounds like they are actually verifying, right? NOPE!

The FCPS online application does not require any documentation. It takes the parents at their word. Parents who were willing to lie on the online application could maintain the economically disadvantaged experience points for their child. https://www.fcps.edu/frm

So, there were some families who when, they got the follow-up email, decided to not pretend any longer. There were others (most?) who doubled-down and just submitted the online application.

The devil is in the details. Always.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what happened.

The TJ Admissions office allowed parents to either 1) produce documentation or 2) file the online FRM meals application. The online application had to be submitted before 4:00 on June 10th.

Sounds like they are actually verifying, right? NOPE!

The FCPS online application does not require any documentation. It takes the parents at their word. Parents who were willing to lie on the online application could maintain the economically disadvantaged experience points for their child. https://www.fcps.edu/frm

So, there were some families who when, they got the follow-up email, decided to not pretend any longer. There were others (most?) who doubled-down and just submitted the online application.

The devil is in the details. Always.

That's a great story and all but do you have any credible sources for any of this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

I thought the meals question was a stroke of genius. It helped root out the cheaters and will help detoxify the environment.

Yes it was a brilliant move to get the worst applicants to ID themselves.

Agree getting rid of the lying cheats who have been gaming admission for years is the best thing could've ever happened to TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what happened.

The TJ Admissions office allowed parents to either 1) produce documentation or 2) file the online FRM meals application. The online application had to be submitted before 4:00 on June 10th.

Sounds like they are actually verifying, right? NOPE!

The FCPS online application does not require any documentation. It takes the parents at their word. Parents who were willing to lie on the online application could maintain the economically disadvantaged experience points for their child. https://www.fcps.edu/frm

So, there were some families who when, they got the follow-up email, decided to not pretend any longer. There were others (most?) who doubled-down and just submitted the online application.

The devil is in the details. Always.

That's a great story and all but do you have any credible sources for any of this?

Go and look at the linked form. No documentation is required. Look at the 6/4 email from TJ Admissions - the form itself is sufficient. If a parent is willing to sign their name and lie, they did not have to produce verification of income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

About ten years, I believe.

[Anonymous]

School board is changing that God youngkin
https://wjla.com/amp/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/suparna-dutta-longtime-critic-of-fairfax-co-school-board-appointed-va-board-of-education-coalition-for-tj-scott-surovell-glenn-youngkin-thomas-jefferson-high-school-for-science-and-technology

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

About ten years, I believe.

This doesn't bode well, “It's pretty clear that this is just another component of the long-term GOP program to carve off chunks of the public good for private profit,” said Hayes, the President of the TJ Alumni Action Group. “The Coalition for TJ has long been advocating strictly for the interests of the test prep industry in Northern Virginia. Two other appointees are both advocates for charter schools and for-profit schools as well. It's so nakedly corrupt. It's repugnant. Schools are for education, not for profit.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

About ten years, I believe.

This doesn't bode well, “It's pretty clear that this is just another component of the long-term GOP program to carve off chunks of the public good for private profit,” said Hayes, the President of the TJ Alumni Action Group. “The Coalition for TJ has long been advocating strictly for the interests of the test prep industry in Northern Virginia. Two other appointees are both advocates for charter schools and for-profit schools as well. It's so nakedly corrupt. It's repugnant. Schools are for education, not for profit.”

Yikes.

Is that true?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long has Jeremy Shurtgart been the head of TJ Admissions? Is this his first year and can be chalked up to not understanding the special meals process the patient two years, how some NVa parents act?

I really do not understand how this happened and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. It just seems like such a careless/stupid error.

About ten years, I believe.

This doesn't bode well, “It's pretty clear that this is just another component of the long-term GOP program to carve off chunks of the public good for private profit,” said Hayes, the President of the TJ Alumni Action Group. “The Coalition for TJ has long been advocating strictly for the interests of the test prep industry in Northern Virginia. Two other appointees are both advocates for charter schools and for-profit schools as well. It's so nakedly corrupt. It's repugnant. Schools are for education, not for profit.”

This is BS of course. Pure dog whistle. Not true.

Otherwise sensible people got so political that it became either

Public Schools = Good & Charter Schools = Bad

or

Public Schools = Bad & Charter Schools = Good

The truth is somewhat in between. Public schools can be very cost effective and deliver high quality education but as with any bureaucratic quasi government entity they have a tendency to become inefficient over time. Hence a dose of competition in the form of charter schools would be helpful.

So something like 80-90% public schools and 10-20% charter schools in a county would likely lead to better outcomes.

During Covid for example, the issue of online vs. in-person is a difficult decision. Having both public and charter in a region would have led the schools to be more responsive to actual student needs.