Disgraced Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler found guilty of misdemeanor
Jeremiah Poff
Video Embed
Former Superintendent Scott Ziegler of Loudoun County Public Schools was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge by a Virginia jury on Friday.
Ziegler, who had been charged with three misdemeanor charges, was found guilty of illegally firing a teacher who testified before a special grand jury that was investigating Ziegler and the Loudoun County School Board’s response to a pair of sexual assault incidents in district high schools.
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: IF WASHINGTON CLOSES, IT COULD COST THE GOP IN VIRGINIA
Ziegler was fired from his position as the chief of Loudoun County Public Schools after the special grand jury, which was impaneled by Attorney General Jason Miyares, issued its report late last year. The verdict means Ziegler faces up to a year in prison or a $2,500 fine.
The verdict comes weeks after Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) issued a pardon to Scott Smith, the father of one of the sexual assault victims, who was arrested at a 2021 school board meeting for disorderly conduct after an attendee reportedly told Smith that she didn’t believe his daughter had been assaulted. The image of Smith’s arrest proved to be an enduring image of the school board’s handling of the incidents.
During the trial, Loudoun County School Board member John Beatty testified that Ziegler had told him he had fired the teacher, Erin Brooks, because she had testified before the grand jury, WJLA reported.
In a statement, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said that the verdict meant that “justice has finally been served in Loudoun County.”
“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,” Miyares said. “One of the casualties of their neglect and mismanagement led to the retaliatory firing of a dedicated and caring school teacher. 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.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Ian Prior, the executive director of the political action committee Fight for Schools who was a prominent local figure in the parental rights backlash that occurred in Loudoun County over the school board and Ziegler’s handling of the sexual assaults, celebrated the verdict in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“Justice is still alive in Loudoun County,” Prior said.