Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott A. Ziegler announced that the school district had enlisted the services of Blankingship & Keith, P.C. to conduct an "independent review" of the recent sexual misconduct cases that occurred within the school district.
Ziegler claims that LCPS "followed all mandatory reporting protocols and aided law enforcement to the fullest extent allowed in all investigations" surrounding the sexual misconduct cases but acknowledge that these "need to be fully reviewed."
According to Fox News, LCPS hired the law firm on October 28 to conduct the "independent review," as per an email to LCPS family and staff, which was later published in the school's website. Ziegler became embroiled in controversy when he alerted the school board of a sexual assault case on May 28, but denied its existence during a June board meeting.
The school district was quick to defend Ziegler, saying that his email "informed in a general fashion that an alleged incident took place" and that it did not "[provide] specific details or the names of those involved." On June 22, Ziegler told attendees at the board meeting that to his knowledge, "we don't have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms."
Caught in a lie, the Loudoun County Superintendent was forced to apologize, saying that his "comments were misleading."
Since October, Ziegler has faced calls for his resignation and intense scrutiny over the handling of sexual misconduct incidents in the school districts. Students in the school district even conducted a walkout to protest their school's handling of the recent events.
LCPS parent Erin Roselle Poe told WUSA9, "We're upset and we're here to basically say you messed up, you need to step up, own this and quite honestly, you need to be removed from your position," she addressed Ziegler.
Loudoun parent Ted Williamson, who has two daughters in the LCPS district, has instructed his kids to practice preventative measures to keep them safe while in campus, as the school appears to be incapable of doing so. Williamson lamented that he had to tell his girls to hold the urge to go to the bathroom until they got home and not use the restrooms in the school because it was dangerous.
Meanwhile, Virginia's Attorney General Mark Herring has also faced criticism from the state's five former attorneys general, who wrote a letter to Herring to investigate the Loudoun County School Board for its mishandling of the sexual misconduct incidents in the school district. The letter was signed by Jim Gilmore, Mark Earley, Jerry Kilgore, Robert McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli.
The former Attorneys General decried Herring's inaction, arguing that he "should've stepped in once the horrific facts surfaced demonstrating that the Superintendent and the School Board knew of the assaults yet did nothing." Rep. Jason Miyares took to Twitter to express his disapproval over Herring, accusing the Attorney General of "[refusing] to help." Instead, Miyares vowed to help, as per the Christian Post.
