Former Loudoun County School Superintendent Found Guilty in Retaliatory Firing Case
In a verdict announced last Friday, Scott Ziegler, the former superintendent of Loudoun County, Virginia, was found guilty of retaliatory firing against a special education teacher. This misdemeanor charge is part of a larger scandal involving the mishandling of sexual assault cases within the school district.
Ziegler was, however, found not guilty of a lesser charge related to punishing an employee for attending court. The punishment for the charges he was found guilty of could result in a year of jail time, with the sentencing scheduled for January 4.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares expressed, “Justice has finally been served in Loudoun County.” He continued, “Nearly two years ago, Loudoun County Public Schools and the Loudoun County School Board were thrown into the public spotlight for all the wrong reasons.”
“One of the casualties of their neglect and mismanagement led to the retaliatory firing of a dedicated and caring school teacher,” Miyares added. “Today, my office brought a measure of justice for Erin Brooks. The Office of the Attorney General will always be a voice for victims, and we’re grateful for the jury’s verdict.”
The case against Ziegler began with Erin Brooks’ testimony before a special grand jury investigating the district’s handling of two alleged sexual assaults by the same high school student in 2021.
Despite her testimony, which was not directly related to the sexual assaults, Ziegler chose not to renew Brooks’ contract for the 2021-22 school year. Her testimony revolved around a 10-year-old student’s alleged inappropriate behavior towards her.
In December, the grand jury issued a report, and Ziegler was subsequently fired. Fox News Digital has reached out to the school district for additional comments.
The Loudoun County district gained national attention after a father accused the school board of covering up his daughter’s sexual assault, where a male student, wearing a skirt, assaulted her in the girls’ bathroom in June 2021. This student later assaulted another girl at a different school within the district and faced charges in both cases.
The father alleged that the district attempted to cover up his daughter’s assault in an effort to advance its transgender policy, which had faced parental protests at Loudoun County Public Schools board meetings.
During a school board meeting, Ziegler had stated, “the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist,” and that “we don’t have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms.”
However, an email dated May 28, 2021, the same day as the initial assault, revealed that the superintendent had informed school board members of the reported assault. The special grand report concluded that the district had prioritized its interests over its students and that the school system “failed at every juncture.”
Ziegler still faces a misdemeanor charge for the statements he made during the board meeting.
Leave a Reply