A Virginia grand jury said Loudoun County Public Schools administrators displayed a “stunning lack of openness, transparency and accountability” to the public throughout their handling of two sex assaults committed by the same student
By Drew Wilder, News4 Northern Virginia Reporter, Gina Cook and The Associated Press • Published December 5, 2022
Loudoun County Public Schools administrators looked out for their own interests rather than the best interests of the school district throughout their handling of two sexual assaults committed by the same high school student, a special grand jury found.
A 14-year-old student sexually assaulted a female student at Stone Bridge High School in May 2021, but was allowed to transfer to Broad Run High School, where he abducted and sexually assaulted another female student in October of 2021. The teen was later convicted in juvenile court.
The assaults garnered significant public attention, in part, because the student who was convicted in both attacks is a biological male who wore a skirt in one of the attacks, playing into a national debate over how schools should treat transgender students and whether they should be allowed to use restrooms different to their biological sex.
The grand jury appointed by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares released its findings to the public Monday after a months-long investigation into how the school system handled the sexual assaults.
In its report, the grand jury said Loudoun County Public Schools “bears the brunt of the blame” for the second sexual assault and allowing the boy to transfer from Stone Bridge High School to Broad Run High School after the May assault.
School officials displayed a “stunning lack of openness, transparency and accountability” to the public and the grand jury, the report said.
“There were several decision points for senior LCPS administrators, up to and including the superintendent, to be transparent and step in and alter the sequence of events leading up to the October 6, 2021 BRHS sexual assault. They failed at every juncture,” the report states.
The report also accuses the school system superintendent, Scott Ziegler, of lying about the assault at a school board meeting in June 2021, after the first assault occurred.
As the school board debated policies governing transgender students and whether they can use the restroom of their preference, a school board member asked Ziegler if the schools had a problem with sexual assaults occurring in bathrooms.
Ziegler responded that “to my knowledge we don’t have any record of assaults in our restrooms.” But emails show that Ziegler had been informed of the Stone Bridge assault and in fact had sent an email to board members informing them of the incident.
Teachers at both schools warned administrators of the student’s disturbing conduct weeks before each assault occurred, according to the report. Even the student’s grandmother spoke up and warned the student’s probation officer, referring to her grandchild as a “sociopath,” according to the report.
Two weeks before the first assault, a teaching assistant wrote an email to another teacher and administrator noting that the boy sat on girls’ laps during study hall “and seems to have a problem with listening and keeping his hands to himself.”
The grand jury said it believes the second sexual assault at Broad Run “could have, and should have, been prevented.”
“A remarkable lack of curiosity and adherence to operating in silos by LCPS administrators is ultimately to blame for the October 6 incident,” the report said.
There was not, however, a coordinated cover-up among officials and school board members were deliberately deprived of information regarding the incidents until after the Oct. 6 sexual assault, the grand jury concluded.
“(W)e are pleased that the Special Grand Jury’s extensive investigation found no evidence of criminal conduct on the part of anyone within LCPS, and not a single indictment was filed as a result of this lengthy process,” school board Chair Jeff Morse and Vice Chair Ian Serotkin said in a statement.
Grand Jury’s Recommendations for Loudoun County Public Schools
In its report, the grand jury made numerous recommendations for the school system and the school board going forward:
- Increase transparency and foster better communication
- Re-examine its transfer process and establish a protocol that requires more vigorous communication between principals, school administration, faculty, special resource officers and, when relevant, the commonwealth’s attorney, juvenile court authorities and the sheriff’s office
- More involvement from the LCPS director of safety and security in situations that threaten the safety and security of students, faculty and staff
- Tightened policies regarding the types of apps students are allowed to download on their school-issued devices
- Review Gaggle, the system schools use to monitor student conversation for safety
- Limit the degree to which school board members invoke attorney-client privilege
- Improve communication, cooperation and coordination across agencies in cases of criminal conduct involving students, faculty and staff
- Strengthen avenues of support and advocacy for faculty and staff confronted with challenging scenarios that could pose a danger or impede learning
“This broad use of the special grand jury investigative process did, however, yield a Report that contains several criticisms of LCPS employees and processes within the Division that are quite serious. We are placing this on our next Board agenda for immediate discussion to reflect on these recommendations and take action as determined by the full Board,” read part of the school board’s response to the report.
“…unlike corporate executives of a company, school board members act on behalf of the public they are elected to serve,” the jury said in its report. “The attorney-client privilege should be invoked when required to protect legitimate issues of confidentiality that impact the operations of LCPS and the LCSB. It should not be used as a shield that impedes transparency, accountability and openness, especially when it comes to the operations of a public body.”
During its investigation, the grand jury said it was “struck by the lack of communication among LCPS, LCSO, the court services unit and the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.” A “memorandum of understanding” between the school system and sheriff’s office outlines the procedures for establishing a threat assessment team, but no threat assessment of the student involved in the assaults was “ever contemplated, let alone undertaken, by either SBHS or BRHS,” the jury said in the report.