ASHBURN, Virginia: In a press conference in front of the Loudoun County Public Schools administration building on October 14, 2021, Ian Prior of the parents’ group Fight For Schools enumerated key known facts, and subsequent reasonable assumptions, about the school board and superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools. The statement concluded with a list of demands. Following is a transcript:
“Good afternoon, My name is Ian Prior. I’m the Executive Director of Fight for Schools.
“Here we are again, discussing serious issues of neglect of duty and incompetence at Loudoun County Public Schools.
“But, before we begin, I want to make clear who has not neglected their duty in the issues we are here to discuss: The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. Based on the information that we have seen, they played it by the book, despite once again being given a bad hand by this incompetent school system.
“For almost two years, parents in this county have been fighting to get the Loudoun County school board to focus on what is in the best interest of the students. We have fought for in-person learning, against race essentialism in curriculum and teacher training, against overly sexualized materials in classrooms and libraries, and against policies that compromise the safety of students and abrogate the First Amendment rights of those same students and teachers.
“We have asked for a seat at the table to discuss those issues, and we have been met with silence, mockery, claims of engaging in ‘dog whistle’ politics, and attacks as racists, bigots, fascists … pretty much anything that ends with ‘ist.’
“And these attacks are not simply limited to angry activists who use social media and the U.S. Postal Service to harass us; they’ve come from some members of the Loudoun County School Board, and even a member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. They’ve tried to fight fire with fire, but as parents, the fire to look out for the best interests of our children will flame on long after these public officials have moved on. So, instead of putting out those flames with water, with negotiation, compromise and finding a middle ground, they only made us more determined. And, since we couldn’t get a seat at their table to discuss the education of our children beyond one minute every two weeks, we have become an effective and much-needed watchdog.
“What we watched unfold this week was horrifying. Here is what we know:
“FACTS: On May 28, an incident occurred at Stone Bridge High School. It was described on social media at the time as an angry dad at the administration office. It turns out it was an angry dad. He was there, and angry, because he was called by his wife after a boy allegedly sexually assaulted his daughter in a bathroom. The police were called, and there was an investigation that led to charges being filed against the alleged assailant. Final adjudication has not yet occurred but is expected soon.
“FACTS: On June 15, the Loudoun County Democrat Committee announced on social media that it would be bussing people in for a rally for the Loudoun County school board meeting on June 22, where proposed Policy 8040, which would allow boys to use girls’ bathrooms, would be debated and potentially passed. The announcement listed the time of the rally as 3:30 p.m. This seemed odd to parents who typically speak at school board meetings. The second school board meeting of the month, which this was, is typically at 6:30 p.m.
“FACTS: LCPS routinely announces the meeting and opens sign-up for public comment at 8 a.m. on the Friday before the school board meeting. On Thursday, June 17, LCPS opened up sign-ups for public comment at 8 a.m. and informed the public that the meeting would be at 4 p.m. The result was that most of the first 20 speakers at the June 22 meeting were overwhelmingly in support of the proposed Policy 8040. Further, for the first time, the school board turned the cameras away from the speakers.
“FACTS: While most of the first 20 speakers were supportive of the proposed Policy 8040, the rest of the 250-plus people that signed up to speak were largely there to voice opposition to a wide variety of school board policies and actions, including proposed Policy 8040. One speaker in that first 20 directed her comments to that audience, and said she saw the ‘hate dripping from the followers of Jesus and their children.’ She was booed, Chairwoman Sheridan scolded the audience, recessed the meeting, and when she returned she gave the speaker back her time.
“FACTS: When former Senator Dick Black addressed the school board (not the audience) in a fiery opposition to proposed Policy 8040, the audience applauded. When Chairwoman Sheridan banged the gavel, they stopped. Nevertheless, they then voted to shut down public comment due to ‘lack of decorum.’
“FACTS: The speakers remained in the board room. They sang the National Anthem. They gave the speeches they had intended to give. Superintendent Ziegler then declared an ‘unlawful assembly,’ despite no apparent threat of violence as is required by law for a declaration of unlawful assembly under VA Code 18.2.406.
“FACTS: One man was arrested for trespass after refusing to leave following the declaration of unlawful assembly. One man was arrested for disorderly conduct after getting into a scuffle with Sheriffs’ deputies. The video of that has been played on local and national news since that day. In that video, the man’s wife can be heard stating that her daughter was raped in a bathroom in a school, as her husband was being arrested. The man is named Scott Smith. It is his daughter that was allegedly sexually assaulted in a bathroom at Stone Bridge on May 28.
“FACTS: Later during that same meeting, without an audience present, Representative Barts asked Superintendent Ziegler if there had been a pattern of sexual assault in bathrooms at LCPS. Ziegler responded he was not aware of a record of any assault in bathrooms. Note that Ms. Barts did not ask if any sexual assaults had occurred in bathrooms; she asked if there was a pattern. Superintendent Ziegler volunteered an answer to a question that he was not asked.
“FACTS: Many of us here learned what happened at Stone Bridge, and to whom, in the days that followed. Mrs. Smith actually posted on June 23 on Facebook that her daughter was the victim of a horrific crime at school. It appears that this post was discussed a week later in a private Facebook group called the ‘Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County,’ the same group that plotted against parents and which two school board members, including Sheridan, were still members of on the date of the discussion. In other Facebook groups, the alleged assault was discussed before June 22.
“FACTS: According to a statement from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, the alleged assailant was arrested on July 8. The investigation was thus concluded. In a statement yesterday from LCPS, it said that the Sheriff’s Office asked that they not interview witnesses until after the Sheriff’s investigation was complete. Therefore, LCPS was free to conduct a Title IX investigation beginning July 8.
“FACTS: On August 10, despite massive resistance from the community based on bathroom safety, a lawsuit, and an alleged sexual assault that happened in a bathroom on May 28, the Loudoun County School Board voted 7-2 to pass Policy 8040, which would allow biological boys to use girls’ bathrooms. Representatives Morse and Beatty voted ‘no.’
“FACTS: The same boy that allegedly assaulted the Smiths’ daughter at Stone Bridge was enrolled at Broad Run High School this year. He was wearing an ankle bracelet. Last week, a second alleged sexual assault occurred at Broad Run High School. The Commonwealth Attorney confirmed that it was the same individual who committed the alleged assault at Stone Bridge.
“FACTS: A statement was put out by LCPS yesterday that said the Loudoun County School Board members were not aware of specific details of the incident until it was reported in the media outlets earlier this week. The statement did not say that they were not aware of any details.
“FACTS: That statement also did not say that Superintendent Ziegler was not aware of the specific details of the incident before it was reported in media outlets earlier this week.
“REASONABLE ASSUMPTION 1: Some members of the school board were made aware of the general details of the incident before it was reported. Otherwise, the statement would have unequivocally said they had no awareness. Certainly, they would have, or should have, been made aware of the specific details following the alleged assailant’s July 8 arrest.
“REASONABLE ASSUMPTION 2: Superintendent Scott Ziegler was aware of the specific details of the incident before it was reported in media outlets this week.
“REASONABLE ASSUMPTION 3: Superintendent Scott Ziegler would have been made aware of the specific details of the incident immediately, meaning he would have known before June 22 when he said he was not aware of any records of sexual assault in bathrooms.
“FACTS: LCPS in its statement said it can take interim measures to protect the safety of students. Also in its statement, LCPS said that school board members aren’t typically informed of disciplinary issues.
“FACTS: LCPS Policy 8220 provides that a student can be suspended for up to 364 calendar days if the school board or division superintendent or the superintendent’s designee finds an aggravating circumstance exists as defined by the VDOE when, a) a student engaged in misconduct which can cause serious harm, including but not limited to physical, emotional, and psychological harm. to another person or b) a student’s presence in a school poses an ongoing and serious risk to the safety of the school, its students, staff, others in the school. Further, the policy reads that nothing shall prohibit the school board from permitting or requiring student suspension pursuant to this section to attend an alternative education program provided by the school board for the term of the suspension.
“REASONABLE ASSUMPTION 4: At the very latest, following the arrest of the alleged assailant on July 8, Superintendent Ziegler and/or the school board should have conducted an investigation and exercised its disciplinary power under its bylaws to suspend the alleged assailant or find alternative education arrangements to keep him out of school pending his case.
“WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW:
“Why did Superintendent Ziegler say he was not aware of any record of sexual assault in a bathroom when it is clear to any reasonable person that he would have been aware of the May 28 incident by then?
“Which school board members became generally aware of the details of the incident, and when did they become aware?
“What were those general details that they were aware of?
“Why did the superintendent or school board not suspend the alleged assailant after July 8, when he was arrested?
“Why was the public not made aware, prior to the August 10 vote on Policy 8040, of at least the basic fact that an individual had been arrested on July 8 for allegations of sexual assault in a bathroom?
“LCPS claims that the Sheriff’s Office asked that it not interview students until it was done with its investigation. Assuming this is true, the Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation on July 8. Did LCPS begin a Title IX investigation after that? If not, why not? If Superintendent Ziegler did in fact keep any members of the Loudoun County School Board in the dark, why is he still employed?
“Since we don’t expect the answers to these questions to be forthcoming, and have lost complete trust in what Superintendent Ziegler and most of the Loudoun County School Board says, we are calling for the following:
“1. That the Loudoun County School Board immediately terminate Scott Ziegler as superintendent. He has shown that he is in over his head and he has demonstrated a pattern and practice of dishonesty. Here are four examples:
“At the September 22, 2020 school board meeting at 5 hours and 7 minutes, Superintendent Ziegler was asked by school board member Denise Corbo if he had reviewed a controversial and constitutionally suspect professional conduct policy with the Loudoun Education Association, the local teachers’ union. He insisted that he had. On September 25, Scott Ziegler received an email from the Virginia Education Association demanding to know why he said the LEA was consulted, when in fact it was not.
“Second example: At a June 3, 2021 ‘equity’ meeting, he misleadingly highlighted part of a statement I made on television to bolster his claim that LCPS was not teaching Critical Race Theory. He said, ‘Ian Prior stated on May 19 on WJLA TV, quote, “Nobody is saying Loudoun County Public Schools or any other schools are teaching Critical Race Theory 101 like they would teach physics or chemistry,”‘ endquote. That was not the end of the quote from the WJLA interview. The full quote was, ‘Nobody is saying Loudoun County Public Schools or any other schools are teaching Critical Race Theory 101 like they would teach physics or chemistry, but it is a broad lens. It is implemented through how teachers are trained and how those trained teachers teach our children, which is to view America, to view our institutions, to view our culture, traditions and language all based on systemic racism.’
“Example number three: In an interview with Sharyl Attkisson for Full Measure earlier this month, Superintendent Ziegler was asked to comment on the private Facebook group that was plotting against parents, ‘Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County.’ Ziegler said, ‘I’m not familiar with that group.’ This, despite putting out a statement in March about the group’s activity, FOIA’d emails where he was alerted to news stories about the community reaction to that group, and the fact that Fight for Schools has been collecting signatures to remove the majority of school board members based on their activities in that group, and one of those cases is currently in court. But, he’s not familiar with that group.
“Final example: Superintendent Ziegler continues to deny the use of Critical Race Theory at LCPS, despite the fact that former superintendent Eric Williams said in an email last year to a constituent, quote, ‘While LCPS has not adopted CRT, some of the principles related to race as a social construct and the sharing of stories related to racism, radicalized oppression, etc, that we are encouraging through the action plan to combat systemic racism in some of our professional learning modules, and our use of instructional resources on the social justice standards do align with the ideology of CRT.
“Meanwhile, Superintendent Ziegler has continued to accuse parents of spreading misinformation on the utilization of CRT concepts in teacher trainings and in the classroom.
“While those false statements should be enough to terminate his employment, his false statement on June 22 and his failure to keep an alleged assailant out of school are far worse and merit immediate termination.
“2. That any member of the Loudoun County School Board that had at least general knowledge of the May 28 incident, yet still pushed through a vote on Policy 8040 before the criminal case had concluded and a conviction could be made public pursuant to applicable law, should resign.
“3. That the remainder of the Loudoun County School Board hire an independent law firm to conduct an independent investigation, with the report to be made public, into how the system failed in this instance and any other instances that the public is not aware of, and recommendations for improvements in the system. LCPS paid the Equity Collaborative $500,000 to do an investigation, recommendations, and report on systemic racism. Certainly, they can commission one to investigate whether there is a systemic failure to protect students from sexual abuse.
“And finally,
“4. Given that the Department of Justice is very interested in the comings and goings of Loudoun County, we ask that Attorney General Merrick Garland order Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Department, as well as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to open Title IX investigations into Loudoun County Public Schools.
“Thank you.”