Perjury trial for suspended Loudoun County Public Schools spokesperson Wayde Byard begins

LEESBURG, Va. - The trial for Loudoun County spokesperson Wayde Byard began Tuesday with jury selection.

Byard is facing a single felony count for lying to a grand jury in 2022.  

Most of Day 1 was spent selecting the 12 Loudoun County residents and one alternate who will decide Byard’s fate. 

Byard entered the courthouse quietly Tuesday morning before pleading not guilty before Chief Judge Douglas Fleming and electing for a jury trial. Byard was the spokesperson for the school board during the tumultuous time that a student committed two sexual assaults at two different schools in 2021. 

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares empaneled a special grand jury to investigate how the board and now fired former Superintendent Scott Ziegler handled the matter. The special ground jury found no evidence of a coordinated cover-up of the assaults between LCPS administrators and members of the school board, according to its report released in December. 

Some Loudoun County parents in attendance Tuesday disagree.

Scott Smith’s daughter was the victim of one of the assaults. 

"We feel very strongly that a conviction here will basically confirm that yes there was a cover-up," Smith told FOX 5 outside the courthouse. "A cover-up could mean that they didn't tell the school board enough. A lot's going to come out." 

Smith was arrested during a school board meeting in 2021 for obstruction and disorderly conduct and will face trial later this year. His wife, Jessica, will testify against Byard during the trial, which is expected to last two days. 

Both sides told the judge Tuesday that they have a total of 18 witnesses prepared to testify.

Byard is not the only one facing criminal charges related to the school’s handling of the sexual assaults. Fired former Superintendent Scott Ziegler is expected to stand trial twice later this year on separate charges in August and September.

According to the grand jury report, after the first assault occurred in a girls' bathroom stall at Stone Bridge in May 2021, the student - a northern Virginia teenager - was charged in juvenile court and barred by court order from returning to the school.

Administrators then transferred him to nearby Broad Run High School, where the second assault occurred in October 2021. He was convicted in juvenile court of both assaults.

The report says teachers at both schools warned administrators of the student's disturbing conduct weeks before each assault occurred. Even the student's grandmother spoke up and warned the student's probation officer, referring to her grandchild as a "sociopath," according to the report.

At a June 2021 school board meeting, Ziegler answered questions from board members as they considered policies related to transgender students, including whether those students can use restrooms of their preferred gender. In response to a question, Ziegler denied that the school system ever had an incident involving students being assaulted in school restrooms. But the grand jury report said Ziegler was aware of the assault that had occurred in May 2021 and had even sent school board members an email about it.

Byard, the longtime spokesperson for the school system, is best known in the county as the voice on the automated calls and messages that notify students when schools are closed due to inclement weather. Students have elevated him to a sort of cult status, creating memes honoring his position as the bearer of good news to students looking for a respite from classwork.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.