Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears questioned Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares asked to investigate a top high school in the state for failing to inform students that they were eligible for a national award. This is a failure critics believe was due to the school leaders’ ideologies.

On Twitter, the lieutenant governor said that “this is reprobable.” “I reached out to Governor and Attorney General, and requested an investigation.”

Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology parents found out that their students received National Merit Scholar certificates in November. However, Asra Nomani (a parent of a TJ Student) said that the notification was too late to include the honor on students’ early college applications, which were due two weeks earlier.

This prestigious award is designed to help students gain scholarships and get into top colleges. However, students who apply for college admissions packages early in the year with deadlines around October 31 would not have received this recognition to increase their chances of getting in.

Nomani, Fairfax County Times, wrote that “Principals usually announce National Merit Commended Student and Semifinalists with special breakfasts and award ceremonies, YouTube videos and press releases, as well as social media announcements” This was not true at the high school in northern Virginia.

According to Fairfax Times, Ann Bonitatibus (the principal of the high school) was notified in April about the National Merit Awards for this year.

WJLA’s Nomani said she was shocked to learn that the school had failed to notify winners’ families for many years, including her son.

Shawna Yashar (a student’s mother) called the delay in issuing certificates to students “theft by state.”

Fairfax parents see the inexplicable delay in awarding the awards as an attempt to promote equity within Fairfax County Public Schools. The new motto for Fairfax County Public Schools is “equal outcomes, for all students, without exceptions”

WJLA’s Yashar said that Brandon Kosatka, Director of Student Services, told her about the delays in the certificates. He explained that they had underplayed their recognition to avoid hurting the feelings of students who were not being honored.

“Our children’s education are not a zero-sum sport. Sears said Friday that we cannot penalize success to achieve ‘equal outcomes at any cost’.