Loudoun County Public Schools students staged a walk-out at multiple high schools on Tuesday morning in protest of failure to protect students after a May sexual assault.
Students outside Broad Run High School chanted, “Loudoun County protects rapists,” NBC Washington reporter Drew Wilder tweeted.
After a sexual assault in May in Stone Bridge High School, officials moved the attacker to Broad Run High School, where the student allegedly committed another assault. LCPS Superintendent Scott Ziegler appeared to deny knowledge of assaults in bathrooms in a June meeting, but since then, Ziegler said he was speaking specifically in the context of concerns around proposed transgender policy.
Tuesday’s walkout was informally organized by students and parents over Snapchat and other social media. A school official told NBC that a parent sent out flyers to organize the event.
“Students and teachers walk out for 10 minutes to show solidarity to victims of sexual violence and demand safety in our schools,” one flyer shared on social media said.
Students also walked out of Briar Woods High School.
The walkouts came the day after a court found evidence sustaining the charges against the attacker, but the walkout had been planned several days in advance.
It was held the same day as the board’s Tuesday evening meeting, where a number of speakers spoke out against the school district’s response to the assault and the district’s controversial policies on topics including virtual learning and equity training.
GOP Chair for the 10th Congressional District Geary Higgins asked the board, “Mr. Ziegler, how could you sit up there in June and tell us there were no sexual assaults in Loudoun County. I would also like to know who made the decision to put the young man who was convicted of sexual assault back in the classroom so he could do it again?”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Stone Bridge High School” by Vahurzpu. CC BY-SA 4.0.
