Reply to Reflections on the "TJ Papers"

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[quote=Anonymous]Since first posting these reflections, I've noticed that others have reposted the summary on other threads and in other forums.  While some disagree with the characterizations, others thus find them helpful.  To that end, here is a slightly more polished version:

Some take-aways:

1. The three main advocates of changes to the TJ admissions process were Scott Brabrand (FCPS Superintendent), Karen Corbett Sanders (FCPS School Board member from the Mount Vernon District), and Scott Surovell (a member of Virginia Senate from the 36th District, which includes the Mount Vernon area).

2. Scott Brabrand was in major "white savior" mode, as if his legacy of FCPS Superintendent depended on his personally pushing through radical changes in the TJ admissions process. At various times, Brabrand's interactions with FCPS staff indicated that his goal was simply to adjust the process, by whatever means necessary, to guarantee the admission of more Black and Hispanic students to TJ, regardless of whether they were otherwise the most qualified candidates.

3. Corbett-Sanders and Surovell had no guiding principles; they come across merely as retail "pork-barrel" politicians who saw an opportunity to grab more TJ seats for students in their own part of Fairfax County and reduce the number of TJ seats awarded students living in other parts of the county.

4. Brabrand misled School Board members about the possibility that the Virginia Department of Education, which had previously required FCPS and other school districts to submit "diversity plans" by October 2020 might come down hard on FCPS if its plan did not include major changes to TJ admissions.  In fact, over time, it emerged that VDOE did not necessarily expect FCPS's plan to include major changes to the TJ admissions process, and certainly not by the 2021-22 school year.

5. FCPS's process for adopting changes to the TJ admissions process was rushed, incoherent, and marked by School Board members sniping at both each other and Brabrand. At-Large member Rachna Sizemore-Heizer complained that At-Large member Karen Keys Gamarra had implied other School Board members were "racist." Sully District member Stella Pekarsky and At-Large member Abrar Omeish referred to Providence District member Karl Frisch as having "lied" to them repeatedly.  Omeish referred to Brabrand as "dumb and too white." Pekarsky and Omeish openly acknowledged that the changes under consideration were "anti-asian," an observation that Omeish curiously followed up on by noting "lol," as if such discrimination would be a trivial or laughing matter.  Braddock District member Megan McLaughlin told a constituent after the School Board had approved the changes that Brabrand's handling of the TJ admissions changes was the worst process she had encountered in her nine years as a School Board member. Springfield District member Laura Jane Cohen and other School Board members admitted after the fact that they had paid limited attention as to whether the newly approved quotas for admissions by middle school would be based on a student's "base school" or "attending school," even though this distinction had a major impact on the potential for 8th grade students then attending middle school AAP centers in FCPS to be admitted to TJ.

6. The two School Board members representing the districts with the most TJ students - Pekarsky and Dranesville District member Elaine Tholen - clearly had reservations about Brabrand's proposals.  Despite those reservations, they congratulated themselves for effecting a "compromise" (i.e., rejecting Brabrand's initial "merit lottery" proposal in favor of a "holistic" approach that theoretically might result in a higher number of Sully and Dranesville kids continuing to get into TJ).  Neither appears to have seriously grappled with whether they should have opposed any changes to the TJ admissions process as a matter of principle, or whether the procedural changes they ultimately supported might end up requiring more of FCPS's time and resources, to the detriment of the school system's ability to address lingering capacity and other challenges at FCPS schools besides TJ. Ultimately, Pekarsky and Tholen appear to have been swept along with the tide for fear of being criticized by their colleagues or other groups such as the TJ Alumni Action Group.

7. Many of the most embarrassing exchanges between School Board members were reflected in text messages produced during discovery in civil litigation brought by plaintiffs challenging the TJ admissions changes. On its fact, this suggests that some FCPS School Board members regularly text each other to avoid using their FCPS email accounts to conduct official School Board business.  This also raises questions as to whether anyone in FCPS's legal department ever cautioned the School Board members that text messages are, like emails, discoverable in civil litigation and, if so, whether the School Board members simply ignored that advice.

The materials are shocking and dismaying.  They reflect a lack of courage, discipline, and integrity on the part of School Board members, and few who read the materials would come away concluding that the current members are deserving of continued service in office.  While Pekarsky has since issued a statement, undoubtedly crafted by FCPS's outside legal counsel, that the various texts and emails simply reflect the "hard work" of School Board members, this self-serving defense that attempts to explain away what, in legal terms, are "admissions against interest" is unpersuasive.  The School Board members have embarrassed not only themselves, but also everyone in Fairfax County who believed the county stood for "good governance." If they had any dignity, they would resign now, but in any event should step aside and let others unburdened by this debacle replace them in 2023.
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