Today, Fight for Schools has provided notice to Loudoun County Public Schools that it will be filing a Petition for Mandamus and Injunction in Loudoun County Circuit Court requesting that the Court order LCPS to produce the results of the “independent review” of the division’s handling of sexual assaults.
The “independent review,” which was announced as such by Superintendent Scott Ziegler on November 5, 2021, was conducted by Blankingship and Keith and LCPS has withheld the report in its entirety, despite a Freedom of Information Act request. As for the reason for the withholding, LCPS claimed attorney-client privilege.
The petition and injunction do not seek release of exempt materials or information related to the victims. Rather, it seeks the release of non-exempt materials and information related to the “independent review” which LCPS is refusing to release pursuant to its flawed claim of attorney-client privilege.
Fight for School Executive Director Ian Prior issued the following statement on the need for the petition:
“Loudoun County Public Schools misled the community when it claimed that it hired Blankingship and Keith on October 28, 2021 to do an independent review of how LCPS handled the two sexual assaults last year. We have repeatedly called for the release of the results of the so-called independent review, with appropriate redactions for privacy, only to watch LCPS claim that the review was actually nothing more than legal advice protected by attorney-client privilege.
“Our elected officials and taxpayer-funded school division must be accountable to the people of Loudoun County. Without transparency, there can be no accountability. If Loudoun County Public Schools wants to spend taxpayer money to defend its continued defiance of transparency and accountability, then we will fight to force the issue and bring the truth to light.”