Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. LaTayna McDade issued a statement after administrators at Battlefield, Colgan, Forest Park, and Patriots failed to tell 28 students they received letters of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program.
While the students do not qualify for the scholarship, many students use the commendation letters on college applications. The school division said it learned about the error on Tuesday, January 16 when the original number of county high school students believed to have not been notified was 16.
The error comes after Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares launched an investigation into why similar errors occurred at high schools in Loudoun and Fairfax counties, including Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a school at which students across Northern Virginia apply to attend.
McDade’s statement made during a school board meeting Wednesday, January 19, 2023:
I would like to briefly address the oversight leading to the delayed notification of some students receiving a letter of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program. First, it is important to note that we thrive on student success; academic achievement is our core business.
Our school leaders and teams work incredibly hard to not only acknowledge but also celebrate all student achievement, and those schools that experienced this oversight based on sheer human error are devastated that this was a missed opportunity to recognize their students’ accomplishments. Many of our school leaders and educators regularly accompany our scholars to numerous regional and national competitions and have been present here in the Board room to celebrate our students’ successes, all while beaming with pride.
Our school leaders and their respective teams, the school division, and school board are all committed to elevating student achievement in many ways. From press releases to our thriving futures focus at every school board meeting, we always are honored to celebrate all PWCS scholars. We are deeply sorry for the oversight and offer a sincere apology on behalf of our schools, school division, and school board for any frustration this delayed notification may have caused to our students and families.
In the future, we will ensure every school has identified a dedicated person responsible for facilitating timely notification of student recognition. Additionally, we will reach out to the National Merit Scholarship Program to request a review of their notification process including a request to add the commendation notification directly to the student portal or distribute notifications directly to the student’s home rather than relying solely on a mailed notification to the local school. To date, all impacted student families have been notified, and we thank our families for their understanding.
