The Virginia Loudoun County school board has voted against releasing the internal report on two student sexual assault cases. According to the Washington Free Beacon, the school board voted 6-3 in opposition to releasing the reports, adding to the frustration of many parents who have expressed outrage over the school’s handling of the situations.
The vote comes a few months after school officials, superintendent Scott Ziegler and former public information officer Wayde Byard, were indicted for their mishandling of the sexual assault cases involving a student perpetrator who identified as “gender fluid.”
The Washington Free Beacon previously reported that “the teenage male perpetrator was reportedly wearing a skirt last year when he entered a women’s bathroom at Stone Bridge High School and raped a ninth-grade girl. The district then transferred the perpetrator to Broad Run High School where he sexually assaulted another girl.”
According to the Free Beacon, Ziegler knew about the sexual assault weeks before telling the school board that there have been no sexual assault cases. Since he learned of the situation, students were still permitted to continue using restrooms based on “gender identity” rather than “biological sex.”
Ziegler was charged by a grand jury with three misdemeanors for “false publication, prohibited conduct, and penalizing an employee for a court appearance. Byard faces a felony charge for perjury.”
Six members of the board opposed releasing the reports citing concerns over student and faculty privacy. One board member cited the superintendent’s removal as a reason why the release of the reports was not necessary.
The father of one of the sexual assault victims, Scott Smith, slammed the board for their decision. According to WJLA, Smith warned parents not to send their children to the school the following day, saying, “How can you send a child to school tomorrow with this school board in charge of your child’s safety? How can you do that? How can a parent with any intelligence send your child to school tomorrow? Mine won’t be in school tomorrow. Absolutely not.”