Republican Party of Virginia Statement on Loudoun County School Board Firing Superintendent Scott Ziegler
Richmond, Virginia – December 7, 2022
After months of unnecessary and shameful delay, the Loudoun County School Board has finally taken the correct course of action by firing Superintendent Scott Ziegler.
As the grand jury report commissioned by Attorney General Miyares made clear, Mr. Ziegler’s attempted cover-up of the first sexual assault incident at Stone Bridge High School directly led to a known sexual predator being allowed to continue attending classes at Broad Run High School and victimizing more female students. Moreover, Mr. Ziegler and other district officials intimidated and silenced staff members who tried to raise concerns.
Though we applaud this first step toward accountability, the fact that Mr. Ziegler was allowed to remain in his position, and worse, was given a $30,000 raise after the Democrat-run school board became aware of these incidents, is a massive indictment on those board members who supported Mr. Ziegler and attempted to downplay and dismiss this story until media coverage and the grand jury report forced them to address it.
In the coming weeks and months, Virginia Republicans will continue to push for accountability from the officials involved in these incidents. This includes far-left Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, who, instead of investigating multiple sexual assaults at high schools in her jurisdiction, chose to prosecute the father of one of the victims when he demanded answers from the school board. It also includes Democrats in Richmond, who passed a law enabling Ziegler and other school officials to cover up these attacks, voted to protect the school board from facing voters, and then demonized parents for speaking out at school board meetings.
During his 2021 campaign, Governor Youngkin promised that his administration would bring more transparency and accountability to our school system. Though the grand jury report cannot reverse the trauma experienced by the female victims in these cases, it will help prevent future attacks and provide some sense of justice to the affected families.
###
