Officials in Loudoun County, Virginia, are calling for further investigations after former public schools supervisor Scott Ziegler was indicted in the aftermath of a damning grand jury investigation into the district’s handling of sexual assault cases.
Ziegler was indicted Monday on three misdemeanor charges, along with schools communications director Wayde Byard who faces one felony charge. Both are indicted in connection to the Loudoun County Public Schools’ (LCPS) handling of sexual assault, which many believe — including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) — shows evidence of a cover-up.
Scott Smith, the father of the first victim and the man who became the center of the Loudoun County story after being removed from a school board meeting after Ziegler told him his daughter was not raped in a school restroom, said, “I wish I could have seen [Ziegler and Byard] in handcuffs. They’re all liable. They’re all accountable, and everybody needs to lose their jobs.”
Ziegler, however, was fired without cause, meaning he is able to keep many monetary benefits including continuing to earn his $325,000 salary over the course of the next year.
“The only feelings that I’ve changed is I don’t know the process of firing someone with cause versus without cause, but I wish they could have done that, and I wish the money he’s about to receive because he was fired without cause, so it’s going to be well over $300,000, could go to these young ladies and their families,” Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall said. “It can’t, but that’s unfortunate because I do think LCPS should pay for any treatments for as long as it takes for these young ladies.”
A woman sits with her sign during a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia on October 12, 2021. – Loudoun county school board meetings have become tense recently with parents clashing with board members over transgender issues, the teaching of critical race theory (CRT), and Covid-19 mandates.
“My initial thoughts were with two of the young ladies and their families,” she said. “Recovery from what they have gone through takes a long time to happen.”
The county board of supervisors does not have jurisdiction over the public school district, which operates as a separate constitutional entity in Virginia. Randall made clear that if the supervisors had the power — or if the scandal came from their entity — they would “start top-down, bottom-up, inside-out, and review everything. If we do not fix it, it can happen again.”
However, Randall called out the school board, saying, “I think there have been people in LCPS who have been conveniently uncurious. It’s not that they didn’t know, it’s that they didn’t want to know.”
She also called for investigations into more personnel in the county public school system.
“There’s no way all of this could happen and no one knew. I definitely think more people should be investigated and possibly held accountable because many levels in LCPS failed these young ladies,” Randall continued. “I think what’s most important to remember is if that’s not fixed — if whatever happened that allowed for this to take place does not get addressed — then it can happen again.”
Many other supervisors made similar statements.
Supervisor Kristen Umstattd said these revelations likely would not have come to light had the special grand jury not been empaneled, and said the grand jury is likely not finished with its work.
“I think they are going to find there are cultural changes that need to be made in the system,” she said. “We heard teachers are afraid to bring concerns to administrators.”
The school district conducted its own internal investigation as well, but has thus far refused to release the findings. Similarly, over the course of the grand jury investigation, the school districted attempted multiple times to stymie the investigation — something the grand jury report detailed.
“We expected these public servants to provide clarity, transparency, and willingness to report truthfully to their constituents. Instead, we were met with obfuscation, deflection, and obvious legal strategies designed to frustrate the grand jury’s work,” the report said before providing a list of district attempts to obstruct the investigation.
“I call on LCPS to release the results of their internal investigation,” Supervisors Vice Chair Koran Saines told ABC 7 News, calling for the interim supervisor to hold more people accountable. “If they are unable to release their full investigation, they should at least release an executive summary. The public has a right to know what LCPS uncovered in their investigation. Sharing that with the public is an important step that LCPS must take to begin restoring public trust.”
One power the board of supervisors has over the school system is funding, but Randall said she would not consider defunding the system, as 86 percent of the children in Loudoun attend public school.
After the initial report was released, school board member Ian Serotkin took a “victory lap” on social media boasting that there were no criminal charges filed. He told ABC 7 News, “At this time I do not have anything to add to the message to families LCPS sent out earlier today.”
The school board will hold its first public hearing after the grand jury report and indictments this afternoon starting at 4:00 p.m. Findings from the investigation will be handled before the 6:00 p.m. dinner break.
Breitbart News will be on the ground at the meeting as well as streaming the event, including the public comment period.
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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