Attorney General’s report finds racial discrimination in Loudoun Academies’ admissions policy

On Nov 20, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced that the state Division of Human Rights had found “reasonable cause” to believe the Loudoun County Public Schools system discriminated against students of color who applied for gifted and talented programs. 

The decision concluded a 13-month investigation by the Human Rights division that was prompted by a formal complaint made by the NAACP Loudoun Branch. The NAACP request alleged race-based discrimination and denial of equal opportunity admissions into the programs of the Academies of Loudoun, the science and technology high school established in 2018 with a selective admissions process.

The NAACP complaint cited Academies admission processes that relied too heavily on a standardized test and that LCPS failed to identify gifted Black and Hispanic students in its elementary and middle schools.

“Our chief complaint in this situation was actually the denial of admission of Academies of Loudoun for their Academy of Science and Academy of Engineering program, where African American students were often left out of the admissions process,” said NAACP Loudoun Branch President Pastor Michelle C. Thomas.

“They actually only accepted maybe between one in three African American applicants a year,” Thomas said. “Some years there were actually zero applicants accepted.”

The AG office’s 61-page report found that LCPS acknowledged and tried to address the applications-acceptance problem after the 2018 class had only one Black student. It is recommending the school system meet with the NAACP to resolve ongoing issues.

Currently, LCPS is reviewing the report while continuing to implement the school board’s previously adopted plan to combat racism. The state requires the school district to undertake some actions within 60 days of the report They include developing new ways to increase diversity in programs such as the Academies of Loudoun, as well as updating discipline and hiring policies.