BREAKING: Court Orders Loudoun County Public Schools to Produce Independent Report Concerning the 2021 Sexual Assaults

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA - Today, a Loudoun Conty Circuit Court judge ordered Loudoun County Public Schools to produce to the Attorney General the taxpayer-funded independent report into the 2021 sexual assaults at Stone Bridge and Broad Run high schools. This has been a 17-month fight for transparency and accountability from a school board that recoils from those duties: January 3, 2022: Fight for Schools sent a FOIA to LCPS requesting the report. January 10, 2022: LCPS denied Fight for Schools' FOIA request on the basis of attorney-client privilege. March 7, 2022: Fight for Schools filed a Petition for Mandamus and Injunction in Loudoun County Circuit Court for release of the report. March 20, 2022: Loudoun County Circuit Court denied Fight for Schools' Petition for Mandamus and Injunction. December 5, 2022: Loudoun County Circuit Court unsealed the special grand jury report. In the report, the special grand jury noted with disdain LCPS's efforts to hide behind attorney-client privilege, especially with respect to the independent report. December 13, 2022: Six members of the Loudoun County School Board stated at a school board meeting that they would support voting to release the independent report (Polifko, Beatty, Ogedegbe, Reaser, Corbo, Morse). February 14, 2023: The Loudoun County School Board voted 6-3 against releasing the report. Morse, Reaser, and Ogedegbe vote no, despite earlier stating that they would support its release. March 3, 2023: The Office of the Attorney General requested a subpoena from the court for LCPS to produce the independent report in connection with the criminal prosecution of former Superintendent Scott Ziegler. May 30, 2023: Loudoun County Circuit Court finds that the independent report was not privileged and orders LCPS to produce it to the Office of Attorney General within seven days. Following the ruling, Fight for Schools Executive Director Ian Prior issued the following statement: "Justice isn't always delivered swiftly, but when it's delivered, it is delivered with a hammer."