A high school in Virginia is allegedly selecting the students to be part of honor classes based on skin color, Fox News recently reported.
According to the Report, John Handley High School in Winchester, Virginia sent a letter to parents and students saying that they will be selecting pupils for their Advanced Placement and honors classes at least based on their Skin Color.
Parents reportedly spoke to Fox News and provided the media outfit with copies of the letter.
The letter indicated that advanced classes such as advanced placement and honors will have “proportional representation” that is unequal in number.
Fox News said that the letter indicated that these classes will accept 40 percent White students, 35 percent Hispanic students, 12 percent African students and only 12 percent of the mixed race group.
“The American population trends indicate that the country will be a majority minority nation in the next 25 years. Therefore, the recent work of American public schools is to create systems that will address disparate outcomes,” the report cited the letter.
Dismayed parents
Parents are reportedly dismayed when they received the letter from the school. The article said that one of the parents “was taken aback.”
“I cannot believe that the school would put words like that in letters that are sent to the residences of students,” Eric Sitton, father of a sophomore honors student stated in the report.
Sitton was quoted saying that he felt powerless to help his child.
“Seeing the look on his face when he found out that he was being judged based on the color of his skin was agonizing,” he added.
The parent further shared how his son asked him if he will not be part of an advanced placement class because he is white. The father said he did not know what to tell his son.
“I told my son to just perform the best that he can do, show his skills and hopefully he will part of the classes that he wants,” he said in the article.
School denies claims
Fox News reported that the school district spokesperson strongly denied the policy, saying that there are no rules that determine students for advanced classes based on race.
“All students, regardless of race, must meet academic standards to enroll in advanced level classes. In the previous years, the academic board has continued its focus on offering advanced level classes as well as increasing subject offerings across various disciplines,” the school spokesperson stated in the article.
