Court Orders Loudoun County Public Schools to Produce Independent Report Concerning the 2021 Sexual Assaults
LOUDOUN
COUNTY,
VA
-
Today,
a
Loudoun
Conty
Circuit
Court
judge
ordered
Loudoun
County
Public
Schools
to
produce
to
the
Attorney
General
the
taxpayer-funded
independent
report
into
the
2021
sexual
assaults
at
Stone
Bridge
and
Broad
Run
high
schools.
This
has
been
a
17-month
fight
for
transparency
and
accountability
from
a
school
board
that
recoils
from
those
duties:
January
3,
2022:
Fight
for
Schools
sent
a
FOIA
to
LCPS
requesting
the
report.
January
10,
2022:
LCPS
denied
Fight
for
Schools'
FOIA
request
on
the
basis
of
attorney-client
privilege.
March
7,
2022:
Fight
for
Schools
filed
a
Petition
for
Mandamus
and
Injunction
in
Loudoun
County
Circuit
Court
for
release
of
the
report.
March
20,
2022:
Loudoun
County
Circuit
Court
denied
Fight
for
Schools'
Petition
for
Mandamus
and
Injunction.
December
5,
2022:
Loudoun
County
Circuit
Court
unsealed
the
special
grand
jury
report.
In
the
report,
the
special
grand
jury
noted
with
disdain
LCPS's
efforts
to
hide
behind
attorney-client
privilege,
especially
with
respect
to
the
independent
report.
December
13,
2022:
Six
members
of
the
Loudoun
County
School
Board
stated
at
a
school
board
meeting
that
they
would
support
voting
to
release
the
independent
report
(Polifko,
Beatty,
Ogedegbe,
Reaser,
Corbo,
Morse).
February
14,
2023:
The
Loudoun
County
School
Board
voted
6-3
against
releasing
the
report.
Morse,
Reaser,
and
Ogedegbe
vote
no,
despite
earlier
stating
that
they
would
support
its
release.
March
3,
2023:
The
Office
of
the
Attorney
General
requested
a
subpoena
from
the
court
for
LCPS
to
produce
the
independent
report
in
connection
with
the
criminal
prosecution
of
former
Superintendent
Scott
Ziegler.
May
30,
2023:
Loudoun
County
Circuit
Court
finds
that
the
independent
report
was
not
privileged
and
orders
LCPS
to
produce
it
to
the
Office
of
Attorney
General
within
seven
days.
Following
the
ruling,
Fight
for
Schools
Executive
Director
Ian
Prior
issued
the
following
statement:
"Justice
isn't
always
delivered
swiftly,
but
when
it's
delivered,
it
is
delivered
with
a
hammer."