LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — The Loudoun County School Board announced Wednesday that it will not challenge a circuit court judge's order to hand over a report on the school district's handling of sexual assaults on campus to the Office of the Attorney General.
On May 30, the judge ordered the school board to release the report within seven days. On the day of the deadline, the school board sent out a press release saying it would not fight the decision.
"A majority of Board members disagree with the decision ... however, Board members also believe it is better for the Loudoun County community if it does not contest this matter further," the board wrote in a statement.
The report looks into the handling of two 2021 sexual assaults that happened at two different schools by the same student. The unidentified then-14-year-old student was transferred to another school within the same district while he was being investigated for a reported attack at the first school. Authorities eventually arrested the same student on charges of sexual battery and abduction of another classmate at the second school. That student was later sentenced to complete a sex offender in-patient program and was placed on supervised probation until his 18th birthday, according to the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
In February, the Loudoun County School Board voted 6-3 to not release the report to the public, citing a number of reasons such as "attorney-client privileged communications." The school district also said the report contained information on students that is protected by FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act that protects information on students.
However, the school board says it is not contesting the matter further, particularly because the report will remain confidential and can only be seen by the individuals involved in the case and their lawyers in the matters of Commonwealth of Virginia v. Scott Ziegler, CR-37536, CR-37874, and CR-37875.
The Loudoun County Public School Board recently voted to appoint Dr. Aaron Spence as the district's new superintendent.