Staff at one of America’s top public high schools appeared to have violated Virginia law by sharing its intellectual property with an organization that took millions of dollars from Chinese entities looking to “clone” the school, according to emails reviewed by The Daily Wire.
New emails obtained by Defending Education show staff at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria collecting information on its textbooks and science labs to send to a Chinese company, as well as admissions from the school’s principal that previous intellectual property sharing had “violated state law.”
The school has faced criticism for sharing its blueprints and curriculum with Chinese entities looking to replicate the school in China. The new emails shed more light on the lengths staff went to share information with the school’s “international partners” and reveal that state laws may have been broken in the process.
In an August 21, 2019 email to staff, then Principal Ann Bonitatibus said that staff at the high school and the Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund, a nonprofit supporting renovations at the school, appeared to break the law by selling its intellectual property.
The Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund received $3.6 million between 2014 and 2021 from Chinese entities like the Ameson Foundation, which had a contract with the partnership fund to help China nearly identical schools. In May, Defending Education filed a complaint with the IRS demanding an investigation into the fund over its foreign funding.
“[Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund] staff shall not request from, or compensate, [high school staff] staff for ‘deliverables’ that replicate, mirror or otherwise transmit [Fairfax County Public Schools] intellectual property,” the principal wrote. “In the summer of 2017, I became aware of HSTI contracts that did such and immediately ended the practice and notified you it violated state law. I have consistently shared with Board leadership that FCPS/TJ staff cannot sell our brand or intellectual property which includes curriculum design, assessments, program design, etc.”
Fairfax County Public Schools did not respond to requests for comment for clarification on what actions were taken in response to the purported violations of state law.
That came after Bonitatibus said that high school staff were not allowed to use Fairfax County Public School resources during their contractual time to do work for the Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund. She said that a staff member was previously found to be doing work for the partnership fund without the knowledge of school leadership.
In the same email, Bonitatibus seemed to shrug off concerns about the situation.
“As stated during our meeting, I believe all parties are acting with good intentions. It can be difficult to navigate the complex scenarios that arise, and we’re here to partner with you and work together to benefit the TJ staff, students and broader community,” she wrote.
In light of the alleged legal violations, she asked that any materials gathered for Shirble HK, a Chinese department store incorporated in the Cayman Islands, be run through her. Shirble gave $1.5 million to the partnership fund between 2016-2021.
“As a result, I respectfully request that copies of any materials generated by our current or prior teachers this past summer 2019 for Shirble be provided to [redacted] and me for review,” Bonitatibus wrote.
Shirble has troubling ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Yang Xiangbo, the company’s former chair, has attended meetings at the United Front’s Chinese People’s Political Consultive Conference and previously said that CCP officials stopped by the stores “to guide the work and put forward ardent expectations for Shirble.”
Other emails obtained by Defending Education show that high school staff compiled detailed information on the school’s research labs and curriculum for Shirble. For example, on June 10, 2019, an employee of the partnership fund emailed a teacher at the high school saying that Shirble wanted to know “about ALL our Senior Research Labs.”
“I have a special request for you. Our current International Partners, Shirble, have specifically asked to know more about ALL our Senior Research Labs as they are going to work on building some of their own,” the employee wrote, adding that Shirble wanted the “curriculum design, equipment needed, lab layout, and possible senior work projects for their own version of the lab.”
The employee told the teacher that the partnership fund would pay the teacher “at a rate of Pay Band 11 for up to 15 hours total of work.” By August 15, 2019, the teacher had responded and provided a detailed document on course structure, equipment used, and lab policies.
Document compiled for Shirble.
Earlier in the year, a representative from the partnership fund requested that the school provide a list of all the textbooks it uses for Shirble.
“One of our international partners, Shirble, has asked for a list of text books that we use for certain specific classes,” the representative wrote. “Do we have a main list anywhere I can access? Or is it best for me to send you the list? Or go through Dept heads?”
In response, assistant principal Volita Russell began circulating requests to staff to compile the textbook lists. Lists of texts used for English, biology, chemistry, physics, geosystems, health, French, math, computer science, and history were all gathered.
Russell indicated in an email that she would be getting the sharing of textbooks approved, but it is unclear if the lists were ever sent to Shirbel.
Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry told The Daily Wire that Fairfax County Public Schools has a “history of malfeasance” including its sharing of school materials with Chinese entities.
“What’s more, is that TJ’s principal appeared to acknowledge that the school broke state law by providing China-affiliated groups with its intellectual property,” she said. “As if that wasn’t enough, further communications revealed through our public records requests indicate that TJ’s relationship with Shirble Department Store Holdings in China included the apparent provision of specific curricular inclusions (including textbooks) for use by Shirble.”