Growing number of Virginia high schools delayed notifying students of national merit

WASHINGTON (TND) — A growing number of northern Virginia high schools delayed notifying students of their national merit recognition.

Director of Community Engagement at Parents Defending Education Mailyn Salabarria joined The National Desk’s Scott Thuman Tuesday morning to discuss the situation.

“The first response that we're hearing from the school district is that this was a first time, human error," Salabarria said. "But now it's kind of curious that we're seeing this human error replicated in several high schools in several school districts in the same area."

At least 17 high schools revealed they did not inform Virginia students they qualified as National Merit Commended Scholars before the Nov. 1 early action and early decision deadlines for college applications.

The consequences for students about this gross incompetence is really real," Salabarria said. "We’re talking about lost money for college lost opportunities of additional scholarships, and the impact on college admissions because they are supposed to mark these on the initial applications."

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he has requested state lawmakers to propose a bill on his behalf that would require Virginia schools to notify all students and their parents about National Merit scholarships and other awards.

In that same announcement, he said the controversy has affected more than 1,000 students.

"What we're seeing again, from policies and kind of like referencing these districts is that as of lately they have been very open in their priorities and their policies been focused on equity," Salabarria said. "And if that's the reason, then what we're seeing is the result of these, you know, equity premium priorities affecting the top-performing students in the school districts, everything in exchange for a false sense of equality."

You can watch the full interview below: