Thomas Jefferson High School principal appeared unfazed that school possibly broke state law by partnering with China-affiliated groups

Defending Education previously discovered through public records requests that Fairfax County Public Schools allowed the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology to let China-affiliated groups use the school’s name and likeness to create similar schools in China. This deal involved these China-affiliated groups paying the school and its nonprofit arm $3.6 million for intellectual property, professional development, and records including layouts of the school, in-depth photos of school labs, and research projects created by students.

Defending Ed has received additional records regarding China from the school district. In an email dated August 21, 2019, the school’s principal appeared to acknowledge that the school broke state law by providing China-affiliated groups with its intellectual property:

TJPF staff shall not request from, or compensate, TJ staff for “deliverables” that replicate, mirror or otherwise transmit FCPS intellectual property. In the summer of 2017, I became aware of HSTI contracts that did such and immediately ended the practice and notified you it violated state law. I have consistently shared with Board leadership that FCPS/TJ staff cannot sell our brand or intellectual property which includes curriculum design, assessments, program design, etc.

She added: “As a result, I respectfully request that copies of any materials generated by our current or prior teachers this past summer 2019 for Shirble be provided to [name redacted] and me for review.” Shirble is a Chinese company. However, she did not appear alarmed at potentially breaking state law:

As stated during our meeting, I believe all parties are acting with good intentions. It can be difficult to navigate the complex scenarios that arise, and we’re here to partner with you and work together to benefit the TJ staff, students and broader community.

Another email that Defending Ed received is from a teacher dated August 15, 2019. He had received an email from another employee that stated: “I have a special request for you. Our current International Partners, Shirble, have specifically asked to know more about ALL our Senior Research Labs as they are going to work on building some of their own.” Shirble wanted the “curriculum design, equipment needed, lab layout, and possible senior work projects for their own version of the lab.” She told the teacher that the Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund would pay him “at a rate of Pay Band 11 for up to 15 hours total of work.”

The teacher provided a detailed document about his class. He did appear to receive pay for putting the document together.