Ann Bonitatibus, the principal of the acclaimed Thomas Jefferson High School in Northern Virginia, announced this week that she took an administrative role with Fairfax County Public Schools. Bonitatibus is now the executive director of talent acquisition and management in the district’s human-resources department. She said in an email to school families that she “pursued and accepted [the] promotion.”
“Dr. Bonitatibus’ expertise, unquestionable professionalism, and dedication to the students of Fairfax County is unparalleled,” FCPS superintendent Michelle Reid said. “I am thankful for her incredible leadership at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.”
TJ has been in the news lately for a couple of reasons that could potentially have spurred the reassignment (though, again, no official reason was given for Bonitatibus’s exit). First, Bonitatibus oversaw the alleged sale of the school’s elite curriculum to Chinese Communist Party–linked entities (Tsinghua University High School, the Ameson Foundation, and Shirble HK) in exchange for $3.6 million in cash payments to a nonprofit, the TJ Partnership Fund, which is affiliated with the school. Although Bonitatibus claimed to have ended the links with China when she came on board as principal in 2017, the district has admitted to having formal partnerships with Chinese institutions until at least 2018. National Review revealed the details of the shady affair, which advocacy group Parents Defending Education uncovered, last week.
In 2017, a school administrator said in an email that “AB [Ann Bonitatibus] talked with [Partnership Fund] about tours, visitors contributing to Fund,” referring to the Chinese delegations that would filter through the school. Another email from the same year thanked the principal for taking the time to “share your insights and inspirations” with one of those delegations and asked Bonitatibus to meet with another group: “We have a different group visiting on October 17, 2017,” the email read. “This group of delegates is essential to moving along the permit approval process for the schools that they are building in China. . . . If you are available to stop by again, we would warmly welcome you.”
In early 2018, Bonitatibus also allowed staff to send photos of the interior of TJ’s labs to the Chinese. When sent “a request from Ameson . . . to take in-depth photos of the research lab set up,” the principal responded, “I am fine with creating a new portfolio,” according to emails obtained via a public-records request. A few months later, Bonitatibus asked another staff member to share with her “the Ameson and Tsinghua University contracts or at least the portions with language that obligate TJ.”
TJ — which for years ranked as one of America’s top-five schools — fell in rankings this year to number 14. The school’s rankings have dropped ever since TJ changed its admissions process to allow for greater racial equity, a change that Bonitatibus led. TJ used to accept students who excelled at its rigorous entrance exam; in other words, on merit. It no longer relies on standardized testing and instead guarantees through its admissions that “all qualified students from all neighborhoods in Fairfax County have a fair shot at attending this exceptional high school,” the district’s board chairman said.