Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Admissions Director Steps Down

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s admissions director has stepped down from her position with the governor's school, according to the Washington Post.

Tanisha Holland, who has worked for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) since June 2010, will work with the human resources department where she will focus on recruitment.

Jeremy Shughart with the student-testing office will replace Holland as the admission director for a year. Holland has the option of returning to the position in 2014, the Post states.

Despite the school’s numerous accolades and long list of student achievements, TJ has come under fire for its admissions process and lack of diversity among its student population in the last three years.

For example, the majority of students offered admission in April to the TJ class of 2017 are predominantly Asian, according to statistics from the school. Sixty-six percent, or 317, of the students admitted are of Asian descent and 123 or 25.6 percent are white. A total of 18 students, about 3.8 percent, are listed as from a multiracial or other background. Fifteen students, or 3 percent, of admitted students are Hispanic while a total of 5 students, or 1 percent, are black.

About 58 percent, or 279 of the students offered admission, are male and 201, or about 41 percent, are female. 

See more admissions statistics for the TJ class of 2017 here on Patch.

Back in July 2012, the Coalition of the Silence (COTS), a group founded by former Fairfax County School Board member Tina Hone and the Fairfax branch of the NAACP filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights against TJ. 

Read more on Patch: NAACP, Local Advocates File Discrimination Complaint Against FCPS

That same month, the Fairfax County School Board announced they would make changes to the TJ admissions process in order to address low student performance in math and look into the racial disparities in the school’s admission rates.

The board is expected to vote on those changes in September. 

Read more on Patch: 

• Thomas Jefferson High School Admissions Increasingly Selective
• Thomas Jefferson High School Application Process: Lengthy and Complex
• Q&A with Thomas Jefferson High School Admissions Director Tanisha Holland
• NAACP, Local Advocates File Discrimination Complaint Against FCPS
• Fairfax School Board Explores Changes to Thomas Jefferson Admissions
• Of 3,121 Who Applied, 480 Students Admitted to Thomas Jefferson Class of 2017