Loudoun County wants to hear from residents as it seeks to find a new superintendent, but time is running out.
Residents are invited to take a five- to 10-minute survey on what qualities they want to see in the new schools boss. The survey closes on Tuesday, March 21.
“As the first step in the search process, we need your thoughtful and candid input to ensure that the voice of our community is part of our search to find the best superintendent for LCPS,” Loudoun County School Board Chair Ian Serotkin said in a news release.
“After interviewing finalists this spring, we anticipate finalizing the selection of the new superintendent by early June.”
Daniel Smith was appointed acting superintendent by the school board after it fired Scott Ziegler in December.
Ziegler was indicted by a special grand jury for his handling of a sexual assault scandal in LCPS. Schools spokesman Wayde Byard was also indicted.
The scandal centered on sexual assaults by a then-15-year-old student — one in a restroom at Stone Bridge High School in May 2021, and another by the same teen in an empty classroom at Broad Run High School in October 2021.
The teen was found guilty on two counts of sodomy for the assaults. He’s on supervised probation in a locked juvenile treatment facility until he turns 18. A judge had ordered him to register as a sex offender, but reversed her decision.
In February, the school board voted against releasing internal reports on sexual assaults.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin touched on the issue during a CNN town hall earlier in March, slamming both Ziegler and how the school system operated.
Youngkin said Loudoun County had “a school district that embraced equity, embraced divisive concepts in teaching, and parents saw it and stood up and said, ‘Wait a minute, timeout.'”
“And then it was coupled with the fact that there was a young woman who was sexually assaulted in a school, and the superintendent moved that child without telling the families to another school, and another young woman was sexually assaulted,” he said.
Youngkin said it took his administration “to get an indictment of what was a cover-up.”
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