The U.S. Supreme Court today let stand an appeals court decision upholding the admissions policy for the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), ending a three-year legal challenge by a group that claimed the policy was unfair.

“We have long believed that the new admissions process is both constitutional and in the best interest of all of our students. It guarantees that all qualified students from all neighborhoods in Fairfax County have a fair shot at attending this exceptional high school,” said Karl Frisch, Fairfax County School Board chair and Providence District representative. 

The Fairfax County School Board adopted the plan in late 2020 to address the shortcomings in an admissions system that persistently drew students from just a handful of the County’s middle schools and resulted in classes that lacked the socioeconomic and geographic diversity seen in the other schools. The plan raised the minimum GPA and class size, guaranteed every middle school a certain number of seats, and eliminated the standardized tests and application fee that had long been part of the admission process.

“We’re very proud that the last three years of TJHSST admissions decisions included students from every Fairfax County middle school and the average grade-point average (GPA) was 3.9, which is consistent with historical averages,” Frisch added. 

In the last group of admission offers for the freshman class that entered in the fall of 2023, economically-disadvantaged students comprised 11.64% of the class. The gender breakdown was 43.4% female and 57.6% male. Asian-American students represented 61.6% of the offers, with white students receiving 19% and Black and Hispanic students receiving 6.7% and 6.0%, respectively. All students admitted to TJHSST are qualified and have earned their place in this prestigious school.