Loudoun County school board has shown a ‘complete unwillingness’ to be ‘accountable’: Ian Prior
Executive Director of Fight for Schools Ian Prior discusses the Loudoun County school board's decision to vote against releasing an internal report of their handling of two sexual assaults.
Parents are accusing Virginia's Loudoun County Schools of "hiding something big" after the district's board elected to withhold an independent report detailing information regarding sexual assault cases of two high school students, citing privacy concerns and attorney-client privilege.
"Being open and transparent is incredibly important, but so is the rights of our students and staff," school board member Ian Serotkin said.
Board member Erika Ogedebe argued that, while transparency is "important," releasing the report would only contribute to and prolong the "trauma of the victims."
She also argued that maintaining the students' privacy takes precedent over releasing the report.
Dr. Daniel Smith, L, takes his place on the board after being appointed interim superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools at an emergency board meeting at LCPS Administrative Offices on December 8, 2022, in Ashburn, VA. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
On the contrary, Tiffany Polifko, who ran as a parental rights candidate for the board last November, said the incident is "about justice, integrity and service."
"You can’t have justice without truth," she added.
The district, which landed in hot water for how it previously handled the assaults, came under fire yet again after the board's 6-3 majority voted last Tuesday to keep the report private despite parents demanding the information go public for months.
Board members Atoosa Reeser, Brenda Sheridan, Jeff Morse, Harris Mahedavi, Ian Serotkin and Erika Ogedegbe were the six who voted to withhold the report.
Parents and educators spoke out in support or against a transgender student policy at a school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia. (Fox News Digital)
Some members' votes, including Ogedegbe's, came contrary to their previous claims to support a potential release. Ogedegbe, however, urged caution with publishing private information about students in an October interview with Loudoun County's 7News.
Members Denise Corbo, Tiffany Polifko and John Beatty supported the report's release.
"I’m the father of the first sexual assault student," parent Scott Smith said during the meeting, "What are they hiding in there? What are they hiding? They are hiding something big."
Smith, walking out of the meeting, shouted at the board, "F---ing liars! What are you covering up? What?"
He also slammed the district for its failure to keep children safe, urging other parents to keep their children out of the schools and called the board "corrupt."
The controversy stems from an incident in which a male student assaulted a female student in the girls' restroom at one of Loudoun County's high schools.
The same student committed the second offense at another district high school later. He was later found guilty of the crimes in juvenile court and sentenced to supervised probation in a residential treatment facility.
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When reached for comment on the vote, board member Tiffany Polifko wrote the following in a statement to Fox News Digital:
"As a representative of the LC School Board, I can only speak for myself in this instance. However, my personal opinion on this matter is that it was a binary decision: I could choose children and constituents, or the system. I have made it clear from day one that I am a mouthpiece for the parents and taxpayers of LC Public Schools.
"I am a public servant. There was immense public outcry for the release of this report, and I felt it could have been done in a manner that would redact information related to minor confidentiality. Finally, it is my belief that the citizens of Loudoun County deserve to be made privy to the truth of the internal report completed by Blankingship & Keith, however uncomfortable it may be to those on the inside of the public school system."
Loudoun County Schools continues in a long trail of scandals, being called out by the parental rights movement for allowing inappropriate materials in area schools, facing criticism over transgender bathroom policies and the sexual assault cover-up that spawned an investigation ordered by state Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Fox News' Tyler O'Neil contributed to this report.
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