Upset parents called for mass resignations from the Loudoun County School Board after the indictments of the former superintendent and school system spokesman were handed down over two sexual assault incidents.
The board met Tuesday on the same day that Scott Ziegler, the ex-superintendent, was indicted for false publication, prohibited conduct, and penalizing an employee for a court appearance.
Statement from parents whose daughter was raped in a school toilet by a boy claiming to be a girl in Loudoun County VA.
School Board Superintendent who tried to cover it up, & had the girl’s father dragged away in handcuffs from a school board meeting, has been indicted https://t.co/OpZYSpmN1C
— Katherine Deves 🇦🇺🚺 (@deves_katherine) December 14, 2022
His former spokesman, Wade Byard, was indicted for a felony perjury count.
The male student was found guilty of assaulting the victims at Stone Bridge and Broad Run high schools. He was ordered to remain in a juvenile facility until his 18th birthday.
The perpetrator reportedly identified as “gender-fluid” and was wearing a skirt when he entered a female bathroom at Stone Bridge and attacked a ninth-grade girl. He was then transferred to Broad Run where he assaulted another victim.
The newly released special grand jury report found the Virginia school district “dropped the ball” on student safety. The grand jury faulted the school board for failing to alert the community after the sexual assaults on the two young females.
Parents were vocal in their demands for school board members to step down while accusing them of attempting to “discredit and obstruct the grand jury.” One parent told the panel that their only choice was “unconditional surrender.”
Ironically, just before the former superintendent was indicted, the school board expressed its satisfaction that “not a single indictment was filed as a result of this lengthy process.”
The grand jury, however, found the district knew of the multiple assaults but chose to keep them quiet over “privacy concerns” for students.
The parents of one of the victims angrily denounced the board at the Tuesday meeting for attempting to sweep the violent incidents “under the rug.” The father demanded that they all resign, saying “no truth is coming out of this board whatsoever.”
Schools owe their students, parents, and the community a high level of transparency concerning security incidents. The Loudoun County School Board is being held accountable by the people whose children they are tasked to protect, and parents have every right to be angry.
