{"id":883970,"date":"2021-10-15T16:44:36","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T20:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=883970"},"modified":"2021-10-15T16:44:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T20:44:42","slug":"loudoun-county-superintendent-apologizes-following-daily-wire-investigation-claims-he-misunderstood-question-about-bathroom-sex-assaults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/loudoun-county-superintendent-apologizes-following-daily-wire-investigation-claims-he-misunderstood-question-about-bathroom-sex-assaults\/","title":{"rendered":"Loudoun County Superintendent Apologizes Following Daily Wire Investigation, Claims He Misunderstood Question About Bathroom Sex Assaults"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Floudoun-county-superintendent-apologizes-following-daily-wire-investigation-claims-he-misunderstood-question-about-bathroom-sex-assaults%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=883970&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) superintendent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lcps.org\/site\/default.aspx?PageType=3&amp;DomainID=1&amp;ModuleInstanceID=274904&amp;ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&amp;RenderLoc=0&amp;FlexDataID=416164&amp;PageID=1\">held a press conference Friday<\/a> where he apologized for the district\u2019s \u201cshortcomings\u201d with regard to reporting alleged sexual assault, shifted blame for an incident the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/loudoun-county-schools-tried-to-conceal-sexual-assault-against-daughter-in-bathroom-father-says\">Daily Wire reported on earlier this week<\/a>, and appeared to blame the federal government \u2014 and, implicitly the Trump administration \u2014 for confusion on Title IX procedures.<\/p>\n<p>Ziegler began his address by expressing empathy for the students involved in the case made public by the Daily Wire this week in a report which suggested that LCPS concealed evidence of an alleged sexual assault at one of its high schools \u2014 a decision which led to a second alleged sexual assault.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[M]y heart aches for you and I am sorry that we failed to provide the safe, welcoming, and affirming environment that we aspire to provide,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lcps.org\/site\/default.aspx?PageType=3&amp;DomainID=1&amp;ModuleInstanceID=274904&amp;ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&amp;RenderLoc=0&amp;FlexDataID=416164&amp;PageID=1\">he said<\/a>. \u201cWe acknowledge and share in your pain and we will continue to offer support to help you and your families through this trauma. For all of our students, our school-based Unified Mental Health Teams are available to anyone who needs care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ziegler did not mention Scott Smith by name, although it is Smith\u2019s daughter who was the subject of the report. Smith was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstructing justice at a June 22nd school board meeting where the district\u2019s new transgender and gender-fluid bathroom policy was debated. Smith became agitated after Ziegler responded to another board member denying knowledge of any alleged sexual assault or rape in an LCPS bathroom.<\/p>\n<p>The superintendent then appeared to shift the blame to the federal government, suggesting that Title IX, which outlines sexual assault reporting on school campuses \u2014 and which were heavily revised by the Trump administration \u2014 are confusing and inadequate to the task of handling reports of allegations of assault at the K-12 level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to know that Title IX directs how schools must investigate allegations of sexual harassment\/assault and provides equal protection for both victims and the alleged perpetrators,\u201d he said. \u201cThroughout these recent events, the Loudoun County Public Schools complied with our obligations under Title IX. However, we have found the process outlined under Title IX by the U.S. Department of Education to be insufficient in addressing issues at the K-12 level. We believe the process could be strengthened with some reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ziegler then proposed a series of changes to how LCPS handles alleged sexual assaults, including a closer relationship with the Loudoun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) superintendent held a press conference Friday where he apologized for the district\u2019s \u201cshortcomings\u201d with regard to reporting alleged sexual assault, shifted blame for an incident the Daily Wire reported on earlier this week, and appeared to blame the federal government \u2014 and, implicitly the Trump administration \u2014 for confusion on Title IX procedures.Ziegler began his address by expressing empathy for the students involved in the case made public by the Daily Wire this week in a report which suggested that LCPS concealed evidence of an alleged sexual assault at one of its high schools \u2014 a decision which led to a second alleged sexual assault.\u201c[M]y heart aches for you and I am sorry that we failed to provide the safe, welcoming, and affirming environment that we aspire to provide,\u201d he said. \u201cWe acknowledge and share in your pain and we will continue to offer support to help you and your families through this trauma. For all of our students, our school-based Unified Mental Health Teams are available to anyone who needs care.\u201dZiegler did not mention Scott Smith by name, although it is Smith\u2019s daughter who was the subject of the report. Smith was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstructing justice at a June 22nd school board meeting where the district\u2019s new transgender and gender-fluid bathroom policy was debated. Smith became agitated after Ziegler responded to another board member denying knowledge of any alleged sexual assault or rape in an LCPS bathroom.The superintendent then appeared to shift the blame to the federal government, suggesting that Title IX, which outlines sexual assault reporting on school campuses \u2014 and which were heavily revised by the Trump administration \u2014 are confusing and inadequate to the task of handling reports of allegations of assault at the K-12 level.\u201cIt is important to know that Title IX directs how schools must investigate allegations of sexual harassment\/assault and provides equal protection for both victims and the alleged perpetrators,\u201d he said. \u201cThroughout these recent events, the Loudoun County Public Schools complied with our obligations under Title IX. However, we have found the process outlined under Title IX by the U.S. Department of Education to be insufficient in addressing issues at the K-12 level. We believe the process could be strengthened with some reforms.\u201dZiegler then proposed a series of changes to how LCPS handles alleged sexual assaults, including a closer relationship with the Loudoun County Sheriff\u2019s office, as well as a change to the investigation process, beginning any investigation following an allegation \u2014 not waiting until either a Title IX or Sheriff\u2019s investigation is concluded.The Daily Wire, on Thursday, also alleged that LCPS failed to adequately report an allegation of sexual assault as required by Virginia law. Ziegler appeared to acknowledge issues with the district\u2019s reporting, noting that the district \u201cinadvertently omitted some information in the past\u201d and that this \u201coversight\u201d is \u201cconcerning.\u201dMoving forward, it is essential that we are consistent in our practices across the county. We are taking positive steps in that direction. This lack of oversight that existed prior to my tenure also contributed to errors in our state reporting regarding disciplinary incidents in schools.\u00a0 The division inadvertently omitted some information in the past.\u00a0 That is extremely concerning, and we are taking steps to make sure that process is improved.\u00a0 I will say that I have no reason to believe at this time that any missing reports were due to an intent to hide any information from the Virginia Department of Education. In the future, we will report events in real-time in our system and make corrections, if needed, following due process procedures. This will help ensure more accuracy in our Department of Education reports.\u00a0Finally, Ziegler addressed his comments suggesting that LCPS had not had an alleged sexual assault in a bathroom, claiming that he \u201cwrongly interpreted\u201d the question he was being asked.\u201cBoard Member Barts asked a question about discipline incidents in the bathrooms that I wrongly interpreted as incidents involving transgender and gender-fluid students. I did this because I was viewing the question in light of the general questions and debate around policy 8040 that was occurring at the time,\u201d he said.\u00a0Multiple board members asked questions about the process, the experiences of students, and plans for transgender students and bathroom use during that discussion. My mindset was in line with that subject.\u201d\u201cAt another point in that conversation, Chair Sheridan asked a question specifically about incidents involving transgender students, and I responded in the same manner,\u201d he said. \u201d I regret that my comments were misleading and I apologize for the distress that error caused families. I should have asked Board Member Barts clarifying questions to get to the root of her question, rather than assuming what she meant.\u00a0 I will do better in the future.\u201dZiegler\u2019s answer ignores Smith\u2019s contention that the student who allegedly assaulted his daughter was wearing a skirt at the time of the incident and reportedly identifies as \u201cgender fluid\u201d per Smith.The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-883970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}