Loudoun County Public Schools

Sexual assaults and charges

On May 28, 2021, a male teenager was accused of sexually assaulting a female student in a girls' restroom at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn.^[39][40] The two had agreed to meet in the restroom, where they had previously engaged in consensual sexual encounters.^[41][42] School officials immediately reported the assault to law enforcement.^[40] Following a weeks-long investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, a 14-year-old male was arrested on July 8, 2021, and charged with two counts of forcible sodomy.^[39] The suspect spent time in a juvenile detention facility before being released^[40] and placed on electronic monitoring.^[43] He was transferred to Broad Run High School in Ashburn.^[40]

On October 6, 2021, the same male teenager, aged 15 at the time, was accused of sexually assaulting a female student in an empty classroom at Broad Run High School.^[39] The male student was arrested the following day^[40] and charged with sexual battery and abduction of a fellow student.^[39] He was again held in a juvenile detention facility.^[40][44]

On October 25, 2021, the suspect was found guilty on all charges for the May 28 assault.^[42][45] On November 15, 2021, the suspect pleaded no contest to a felony charge of abduction and a misdemeanor count of sexual battery for the October 6 assault.^[41] He was set to be sentenced on December 13, 2021,^[41] but sentencing was delayed until January 2022 in order for the court to perform a psychology evaluation on him and explore residential treatment facility options.^[46] In January 2022, the suspect was found guilty on all four charges and was sentenced to complete a "residential program in a locked-down facility" and placed on supervised probation until he turned 18, and ordered to register as a sex offender in Virginia.^[47][48] Loudoun County Juvenile Judge Court Judge Pamela L. Brooks said she had never previously ordered a minor to register as a sex offender, stating, "You scare me. What I read in those reports scared me and should scare families and scare society. You need a lot of help."^[47][48] The perpetrator apologized to the two victims in court. Judge Brooks said that there was a third victim who had not come forward to press charges.^[47][48] Later that month, Brooks decided against placing the perpetrator on the sex offender registry, due to the offender's young age and data indicating that teenagers placed on the registry go on to have higher recidivism rates.^[49]

In October 2023, one of the victims filed a lawsuit against the school district for $30 million, alleging that school officials failed to heed warning signs about her attacker and attempted to cover up her sexual assault.^[50]

Policy 8040 and responses

Policy 8040, which was passed in August 2021, a few months after the first assault occurred, allows students to use locker rooms and bathrooms corresponding to their "consistently asserted gender identity"; the policy was adopted to comply with a state mandate.^{[51][52][53][54]} The parents of the Stone Bridge victim have said the perpetrator of their daughter's assault identified as gender fluid.^[55] While discussing a draft of Policy 8040 at a school board meeting on June 22, 2021, superintendent Scott Ziegler stated that, to his knowledge, there were no reports of any assaults occurring in the school system's restrooms and that a "predator transgender student or person simply does not exist".^[56] The father of the Stone Bridge victim stated he was angered by Ziegler's comments due to his daughter's assault,^[40] and was arrested at the meeting after getting into an argument with a fellow attendee; he was found guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest on August 17, 2021.^[57] The parents of the Stone Bridge victim accused the school system of covering up the assault to push Policy 8040.^[40] The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office stated they were immediately made aware by school officials of the assault on May 28.^[40] Authorities have not commented on the parents' "gender fluid" characterization of the perpetrator, but have said he was wearing a skirt at the time of the assault.^[41] On October 15, 2021, Ziegler said he "wrongly interpreted" questions posed to him at that meeting and apologized, calling his comments "misleading".^[58] Later that month, the perpetrator's lawyer disputed the characterization of his then-client as gender fluid or transgender.^[59]

At a school board meeting on October 12, 2021, parents criticized the handling of the assaults, expressing fear for their children's safety in Loudoun County Public Schools and calling for the school board, and superintendent Ziegler, to resign.^[39] During an October 15, 2021 press conference, Ziegler acknowledged that the school system had "failed to provide the safe, welcoming, and affirming environment" they aspired to.^[55][58][60] He went on to state that federal policy contained in Title IX had required a full investigation of the assaults before certain disciplinary actions were allowed to be taken and that he would lobby for changes to this part of Title IX.^[55][58][60] He also proposed local policy changes that he said would "place greater emphasis on victim rights".^[58][60] These local changes, Ziegler said, would ensure the future separation of "alleged offenders from the general student body" and allow disciplinary actions to begin before the end of any future investigations of assault.^[55]

A September 29, 2021 letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to President Joe Biden characterized parents from various school board meetings as "domestic terrorists", including the father of the Stone Bridge victim, citing his arrest at the June 22 meeting. In October 2021, the father demanded an apology and retraction from the NSBA. His attorneys said that the NSBA released an apology to other NSBA members on October 22 but "did not include any specific apology" to him or other parents.^[61]

School students across Loudoun County, including students at Stone Bridge High School and Broad Run High School, performed walkout protests on October 26, 2021, in support of the victims.^[62][63]

During his successful campaign for governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin responded to the assaults by arguing for an increased police presence in the state's schools.^[42] On his first day in office, January 15, 2022, Youngkin signed an executive order requesting that the Virginia Attorney General, Jason Miyares, conduct an investigation into the school system's handling of the assaults.^[64]

The assaults coincided with vocal opposition among some parents towards the Loudoun County school system's COVID-19 prevention strategies and racial equity programs.^[59][65] Amid these controversies, several members of the Loudoun County School Board were harassed and received death threats.^[66] The New York Times noted that conservative media coverage of the assaults "zeroed in on the transgender angle",^[65] and Youngkin's Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, argued that conservatives were exploiting the issue as a "transphobic dog whistle".^[59] The New York Times further noted that early media coverage of the assaults failed to report that the victim and assailant "had an ongoing sexual relationship" before the assault occurred "and had arranged to meet in the bathroom."^[65]

On March 8, 2022, the Loudoun County School Board voted to adopt an overhaul of the school's Title IX policies that had been in development since the beginning of 2020. Under the reformed policy, a Title IX coordinator is charged with ensuring an immediate investigation and response to instances of "sex discrimination, sexual harassment, or sexual misconduct".^[67][68] The reformed policy also states, "If appropriate and regardless of whether a criminal or regulatory investigation regarding the alleged conduct is pending, the school division shall promptly take interim action to maintain a safe and secure learning environment for all students."^[68]

Dismissal and criminal conviction of Superintendent Ziegler

On December 6, 2022, Superintendent of LCPS Scott Ziegler was fired with immediate effect by a unanimous vote after a closed session school board meeting.^[69] He was fired due to the school district's response to the 2021 sexual assault cases. Specifically, a grand jury report had concluded that Ziegler was informed about the assault on the day that it happened but he later lied about his knowledge of the event during a school board meeting the following month.^[70] Glenn Youngkin reacted on December 7, 2022, by tweeting "The special grand jury’s report on the horrific sexual assaults in Loudoun has exposed wrongdoing, prompted disciplinary actions, & provided families with the truth. I will continue to empower parents & push for accountability on behalf of our students."^[71] Ziegler's removal was faced with positive statements from people in Loudoun County.^[72] According to a source, because he was dismissed "without cause", Ziegler will continue to receive full benefits and his $323,000 annual salary for the next year.^[69] Three criminal charges against Zeigler were made public days later, on December 12, following a judicial order to unseal the grand jury indictments against him and a district employee.^{[73][74][75][76]}

On 29 September 2023, a jury found Ziegler guilty of retaliating against a teacher in a separate case. The teacher had reported repeated sexual assaults from a student and that Ziegler had retaliated after she went public about her treatment and lack of a response from school administrators.^[77] In March, 2024, Judge Joseph Fleming, citing a legal error, set aside the guilty verdict. A move which Courthouse News Service called a "victory" for Ziegler.^[78]