Virginia’s Largest District Currently Favors ‘Equity’ Over Merit

Ms. Lundquist-Arora is a Fairfax parent and leads the county’s Independent Women’s Network chapter.

Fairfax County resident Stephanie Lundquist-Arora sent the following open letter to Superintendent Michelle Reid on January 24, 2025:

Dr. Reid,

On January 21, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” The associated guidance that the U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of Education are tasked to issue within 120 days of the order will require educational agencies receiving federal funding, including Fairfax County Public Schools, to align their policies to uphold merit-based standards and eliminate “illegal DEI and DEIA policies.”

As a concerned parent and citizen, I have a few questions about how you intend to align our school district’s policies with this executive order.

• Do you intend to eliminate DEI-focused administrative positions, departments, and policies in the district’s headquarters at Gatehouse and in the schools themselves? In fiscal 2025, for example, the budgetary allocation for the Office of Experience and Engagement and the Office of the Chief Equity Officer, both heavily engaged in DEI initiatives, totaled $13.8 million.
• Meanwhile, there is also an “Equity Lead” staff officer and multiple “Student Equity Ambassador Leaders (SEALS)” in each school. Will those programs and related positions also be eliminated?
• The district’s strategic plan centralizes and prioritizes “equity” and “equal outcomes.” In order to comply with the executive order, does district leadership have plans to redraft a strategic plan that prioritizes merit?
• In order to prioritize merit rather than equity, will the district return to the merit-based admissions system for our magnet school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology?
• Will the district change its policy on equity grading which was intended to reduce student gaps and eliminate class rank?
• Will the district revise its code of conduct to remove clauses specifying the consideration of students’ demographics in the consideration of offenses?
• Will district leadership reconsider its equity-based restorative justice system and return to traditional punitive measures to reduce student violence and misbehaviors in schools?

Thanks for your time and consideration. I look forward to working with the district leadership to make sure that our local public schools are in line with national directives. Together, all things are possible.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Lundquist-Arora