Loudoun County Situation Is Probably Worse Than You Thought – Certainly Worse Than You Were Told.

[Valin]

Eduwonk

arotherham

Dec. 6 2022

Over the past year and a half I wrote a few posts on Loudoun County and how the “narrative” about it was often at odds with the facts on the ground. From an October 2021 post:

A common response to those posts was the idea this Loudoun controversy was all partisan, it was transphobic, it was much ado about nothing. In fact, the local newspaper, The Washington Post, could barely be bothered to report on it in any depth until today. It was freelance journalist Matt Taibbi – far from a local – who did the most definitive deep dive.

This is the key takeaway from a grand jury report released today about Loudoun’s handling of two sexual assaults:

The report also includes chapter and verse of the school division’s effort to thwart this investigation. Too much to pull quote here, but if you think this entire parents rights and transparency issue is BS that Glenn Youngkin cooked up, well just read it.

(Snip)

 

[Valin]

Loudoun County School Officials Indicted

John Hinderaker

December 12, 2022

The parents’ revolt in Loudoun County, Virginia, continues to reverberate. A grand jury has now indicted former (fired last week) Superintendent of Schools Scott Ziegler and Public Information Officer Wayde Byard:

(Snip)

As you likely recall, the victim’s father was thrown to the ground by police officers and forcibly removed from a public school board meeting for objecting to what happened to his daughter. Frankly, I think there are quite a few public school officials who, if all the facts were known, could be under indictment.

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Jun 22, 2021

 

Jun 24, 2021

[Valin]

Angry parents confront Loudoun County School Board after grand jury report
Jeremiah Poff, Education Reporter
December 13, 2022

The Loudoun County School Board faced a horde of incensed parents and discussed multiple changes to its policies following the announcement of indictments against the district's former superintendent by a special grand jury.

The Tuesday meeting was the first regular public meeting since a special grand jury released a report last week detailing multiple missteps by district administrators, including then-Superintendent Scott Ziegler, in responding to the sexual assault of a female student by a male student in the girl's bathroom of Stone Bridge High School. The same male student went on to assault another student after he was transferred to Broad Run High School.

LOUDOUN GRAND JURY INDICTS OUSTED SUPERINTENDENT SCOTT ZIEGLER FOLLOWING REPORT ON SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE

During the public comment period, speaker after speaker blasted the board's response to the assaults and the grand jury report.

Over 18 months after he was arrested at the board's meeting on June 22, 2021, following a confrontation with law enforcement, Scott Smith, the father of the first sexual assault victim, returned to address the school board and demanded that division counsel Robert Falconi be fired.

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[Valin]

41 minutes ago, Valin said:

Angry parents confront Loudoun County School Board after grand jury report

 

 

[Valin]

Loudoun County Dad Arrested For ‘Trespassing’ At Local Public School Board Meeting Found Not Guilty

[Valin]

Loudoun County attorney's office to no longer prosecute certain misdemeanors
Cami Mondeaux, Breaking News Reporter
January 13, 2023

The Loudoun County Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Virginia will no longer prosecute certain misdemeanor charges in an effort to crack down on more violent crimes, according to a letter sent to local judges in late December.

Attorney Buta Biberaj announced her office would no longer prosecute certain misdemeanor charges beginning next week in an effort to allocate resources toward more violent cases, she wrote in a letter to county judges on Dec. 30. Instead, certain misdemeanors, such as hit-and-runs and public intoxication, will be deferred to local courts and law enforcement.

(Snip)