A special grand jury report concluded that the former Loudoun County Public Schools superintendent in Virginia had mishandled several cases of sexual assault involving students.
On Monday, Scott Ziegler, former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent, was charged by the Loudoun County Special Grand Jury with three misdemeanors, including punishing an employee for appearing in court. Wayde Byard, Loudoun County Public Schools Public Info Officer, was also charged with felony perjury. Following the report of the special grand jury, Ziegler was fired by Loudoun County School Board Dec. 7.
Loudoun County Public Schools stated in a press release that Byard was placed on leave Monday after the indictment.
On Dec. 5, a special grand jury in Virginia found that Loudoun Country Public School had “failed to protect students” after several incidents of sexual assaults within its school district. The school district was not notified of the sexual assault incidents but failed to notify the community due to student privacy concerns.
The report stated that LCPS administrators looked out for their own interests rather than the best interests of LCPS. This invariably resulted in a shocking lack of transparency, accountability and openness to both the public and the special Grand Jury.
The Loudoun County School Board stated that they were pleased with the fact that the investigation had “found no evidence of criminal behavior on the part of anyone in LCPS.” No indictment was ever filed.
