Parents demand Loudoun Co. Public Schools release sexual assault report

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. - Parents and advocates continue to call for the release of a report on Loudoun County Public Schools' handling of two high-profile sexual assault cases.  

Ahead of Thursday night’s Board of Supervisors budget hearing, where LCPS officials presented the 2022-2023 fiscal year budget to the board, the parents of a sexual assault victim were joined by supporters for a rally.  

This comes after a county supervisor recently threatened to withdraw funding if the report was not released.  

Scott Smith, whose daughter was sexually assaulted, said if the report is not going to be released, the best way to hold LCPS accountable is to withhold funding.  

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"I don’t think they ever had any intentions on releasing it. But even if they did have intentions to release it, they’re certainly not releasing it now," Smith said. "They’re doing everything in their power not to release it; Why? Probably because it shows how horrific things were handled throughout this whole last year. It’s just sickening." 

Thursday night’s budget hearing is the first of several meetings on next school year's budget. 

Superintendent Scott Ziegler presented the budget proposal to the board of supervisors. 

Supervisor Caleb Kershner told FOX 5 in a recent interview he does not support funding the budget until the report is released.  

The school system has said it can’t be released for legal reasons. 

During the meeting, Kershner criticized Dr. Ziegler for how the situation was handled. 

Initially, Dr. Ziegler did not comment on what Kershner had to say, but he later took time to address it; calling it an ambush.  

"To ask me to respond to accusations that have attacked my character and attacked my integrity is inappropriate, and I was not given a chance to prepare a response," Ziegler said. "And nor would a response be necessarily appropriate because integrity to me means when information needs to be kept confidential, it’s kept confidential, and if that means I need to continue to be the lightning rod, I’ll be the lightning rod." 

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Kershner responded later in the meeting:

"You have the ability to release this information," he said. "I don’t understand what’s being hidden. And honestly, I’m concerned it's a liability and I think a lot of parents are very concerned about the safety of the schools. It’s hard for me to justify a 75-million-dollar increase when we are seeing constant failures across the board this year." 

The group of parents and advocates also called for accountability within the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.  

FOX 5 did reach out to that office, but we have not heard back.