What’s happening in Loudon County?
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@jon-nyc said in What’s happening in Loudon County?:
Much of it seems to be confusing her with the school officials too.
Probably because she confuses herself with the school board and officials too.
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There's some cool train pics at the end of the article for @George-K
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A jury of six women and one man on Friday found ex-Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler guilty of using his position to retaliate against a teacher for cooperating with a grand jury investigating how the district handled sexual assault.
After a four-day trial plus a day of deliberations, the jury found that Ziegler wrongfully fired a teacher who had disclosed to Virginia investigators about mishandling of sexual assault in her classroom. Ziegler was convicted of using his official position to retaliate against someone for exercising their rights, and acquitted of punishing someone for testifying to a jury, both misdemeanors.
Ziegler could face up to 12 months in jail, a $2,500 fine, or both. Sentencing in the trial will occur on January 4, 2024, Judge Douglas Fleming Jr. said. Ziegler’s victim, former special education teacher Erin Brooks, clasped her hands in front of her mouth in emotion after the verdict was read.
Prosecutors appointed by Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, said that after they began investigating the school district’s coverup of a bathroom rape, they spoke with Brooks, who disclosed an unrelated instance of mishandling of sexual assault by school administrators. Brooks was then fired by Ziegler for cooperating with the special grand jury.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/05/loudoun-sexual-assault-stone-bridge/
A teenage girl who was sexually assaulted in a Virginia high school bathroom has sued Loudoun County Public Schools, alleging that school officials failed to heed warning signs about her attacker and responded to her May 2021 assault by trying to cover it up.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.The teenager, who filed the lawsuit under the pseudonym “Jane Doe” along with her parents, was 15 years old when a younger, male student in a skirt assaulted her in a girls’ bathroom at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn on May 28, 2021.
The incident garnered national attention. Conservatives protested a policy in Loudoun County schools — put in place after the assault — that allowed transgender students to use bathrooms matching their gender identity. Meanwhile, outraged parents in Loudoun County questioned why the perpetrator was moved to a different school, where he assaulted a second female student months later.
The teen was convicted of both attacks. His mother and teachers denied claims on the right that he was “gender-fluid.” He remains in a juvenile mental health facility, according to the Stone Bridge victim’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.
“It’s been a long, hard-fought battle, and we’re finally glad to be able to put this lawsuit forward and set a precedent that this should never happen to any child anywhere across the nation,” the teenager’s father, Scott Smith, told The Washington Post. He is not named in the suit but has made public appearances and statements in connection with the incident. “We’re putting it in God’s hands,” he said.
In the lawsuit, attorney Bill Stanley, a Republican state senator who has represented Smith’s family for more than a year, wrote that they are seeking at least $30 million in damages and alleged that school officials’ “failure to respond promptly and adequately to reports that Jane Doe was sexually assaulted by another LCPS student constituted sex discrimination, in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.”
Loudoun schools delayed probe of high-profile sex assault for months
The girl “was admitted to the hospital for two weeks for physical, mental, and emotional trauma she suffered because of the sexual assault,” Stanley said in the lawsuit. She was bullied and harassed by other students after the incident, and a Loudoun County judge in January granted a two-year protective order forbidding contact from one student “who threatened her with death,” Stanley added.
AdvertisementThe lawsuit alleged, without providing details, that “the Loudoun County Public School system was previously aware that Jane Doe’s attacker had inappropriate sexual contact with another student a few years earlier on school grounds. Despite this knowledge, the LCPS system failed to protect Jane Doe (and others) from the harm she subsequently suffered.” Stanley did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
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That’s her suit. We’re still waiting for the suit from the father.
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@Jolly said in What’s happening in Loudon County?:
Will there be one?
Against the school district? Likely not. Against the Commonwealth’s Attorney? Very possibly. Against the Sheriff’s department? Probably. Against Loudoun Love Warriors? Definitely.
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Respond to the FOIA...
The Daily Wire on Tuesday sued the Virginia school system at the center of a rape coverup, stating that Loudoun County Public Schools is violating public records laws by refusing the news outlet’s requests for documentation on legal settlements.
Loudoun, like other school districts throughout the country, has abused “privacy” laws to refuse to turn over basic information under the guise of protecting children’s identities, even if children’s identities would not be exposed. The reference to inapplicable privacy laws suggests the school district’s real purpose may be to hide embarrassing conduct by administrators.
The Daily Wire’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request asked for a list of legal settlements by LCPS. That essentially amounts to a list of times the school district did something it could have been sued for, and how much taxpayer money it spent to make it go away. Out-of-court settlements allow the district to avoid a public trial, and settlements can require the other party to agree to certain terms — perhaps even a stipulation preventing them from talking about the school’s misconduct — in exchange for the money.
On October 2, 2023 The Daily Wire requested “copies of all legal settlements entered into between May 1, 2023 and the present,” specifying that it was “not seeking the name of the student or the parents, and you should redact those names.”
LCPS first claimed the request was too broad – suggesting it had entered into so many settlements that it would be burdensome to produce them. Then it claimed that “even if the student’s name is removed,” settlements would still be a private academic record “given that the requestor (or others) could discern the identity” of a student involved.
The Daily Wire then requested just a financial ledger showing the dollar amounts spent on legal settlements. LCPS claimed, without explanation, that it had “no records that are responsive to your request,” suggesting the unlikely situation that the school system does not keep financial records.
The Daily Wire “filed a valid FOIA request seeking information on the amount of money the School Board and Administration has spent to cover-up and avoid responsibility for their actions,” the lawsuit filed by America First Legal said.
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So, school board changed… A few parental rights candidates made it on to the board, but the majority was more of the same. The head of the “conservative” board members is a Jewish lady named Deanna Griffiths. She’s made a bit of a ruckus but nothing has changed. Last week she was at a graduation and one of the students came up with a Kefiyeh embroidered “From the River to the Sea”. The student is not Palestinian. She refused to shake hands with the student and all hell has broken loose.
