Free Republic

Wednesday was a good day for parents' rights in Virginia. In addition to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signing SB 739 into law, which empowers parents to decide whether their children will wear masks and guarantees in-person instruction, students in the Loudoun County Public School (LCPS) system found relief through a court decision later that evening. As Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) rejoiced about over Twitter, Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Fisher had ruled in favor of parents who sued the district for not complying with one of Youngkin's executive orders issued last month, hours after he took...

A Loudoun County, Virginia, mom said at a school board meeting this month that she pulled her children from the public school system after her 6-year-old asked her if she was "born evil" because she’s white. "We had specifically moved them out of LCPS due to the swift and uncompromising political agenda of Superintendents Williams, Ziegler, and the school board had forced upon us. First, it was in the early spring of 2020 when my six-year-old somberly came to me and asked me if she was born evil because she was a white person. Something she learned in a history...

Loudoun County’s sheriff rejected a request by the school district’s superintendent to dramatically ramp up the law enforcement presence at a pair of school board meetings in August, newly released emails show. Scott Ziegler, the superintendent for the Virginia county, asked the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) for three deputies to be inside the administration building for the Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 meetings, the emails show. He also requested a “K-9 explosive sweep,” a five-person “Quick Reaction Force,” undercover deputies, and another team “stood up and on standby at nearby location.” Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman rejected the request,...

Students at multiple schools in Loudoun County, Virginia staged a walkout on Tuesday in protest of the district’s cover-up of a sexual assault case. “Loudoun County protects rapists,” some students at Broad Run High chanted in front of the school. Social media posts reportedly framed the protest as a way to “show solidarity to victims of sexual violence and demand safety in our schools.” The protest follows months of controversy after members of the Loudoun County School Board and the superintendent publicly denied that there had been any sexual assault by transgender-identifying students in school bathrooms in the district, even...

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin demanded that Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler and the school board resign following a bombshell email this week that showed the board was made aware on May 28 that a female student reported she had been sexually assaulted by a male student in a girl's bathroom. The email was sent to school board members about a month before Ziegler said at a board meeting that he had no record of assaults in the school district's bathrooms. Youngkin told Fox News on Saturday that the email, which was first reported by WTOP, "simply confirms what we...

Over the weekend, ABC and NBC finally discovered the close gubernatorial race in Virginia between institutional Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican outsider Glenn Youngkin. And with the polls showing a dead heat between them, the networks adopted the talking points of the McAuliffe campaign as they railed against Youngkin as some kind of Donald Trump mini-me. At the same time, they ignored McAuliffe lashing out at Virginia parents for daring to try to have a say in their children’s education. On Saturday, NBC Nightly News and White House correspondent Monica Alba gushed about former President Barack Obama stumping for McAuliffe...

"All across the country, Democrats are trying to make it easier to vote, not make it harder to vote, and push back on Republicans who are trying to systematically prevent ordinary citizens from making their voices heard," Obama said Saturday in Richmond.

The fact that America’s biggest banks (not to mention many of its biggest companies) have embraced virtue-signaling on issues like racial equality and representation is nothing new. But in the race to be seen as the most beneficent megabank on Wall Street, Citigroup appears to be pulling ahead. One year after releasing a 104-page paper purporting to analyze the impact of racism and inequality on America’s economy – the analysts ultimately determined, in a report that reads more like propaganda than sell-side research, that “systemic racism” has helped to destroy some $16 trillion in economic value over the last 20...

Beth Barts, a far-left member of the Loudoun County School Board, has resigned from her position. First elected in 2019, Barts has been criticized by parent groups over Critical Race Theory and transgender policies in the school system. Her resignation, which will take effect on November 2, 2021, staves off an ongoing recall attempt. “This was not an easy decision or a decision made in haste. After much thought and careful consideration, it is the right decision for me and my family,” said Barts in a statement Friday. “I am grateful to have had a role in empowering students to...

The superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools sent a brief, confidential email to school board members on May 28 — the same day a female student at Stone Bridge High School said she was sexually assaulted in a bathroom. In an email provided to WTOP by the school system, Superintendent Scott Ziegler alerted the board that the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the incident, but provided few details. The school board is often notified of major incidents at schools, but rarely given the specifics or told about who is involved because the board may be involved in student disciplinary...

The superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools issued an apology and a school board member resigned on Friday as the district faces mounting backlash over its response to two alleged sexual assaults, one of which was allegedly carried out by a skirt-wearing male student in a girls' bathroom. Superintendent Scott Ziegler apologized for saying during a June event that the Virginia district had no record of assaults taking place in its bathrooms. His comments came amid debate about policy changes related to self-identified transgender students. Ziegler said Friday that he misunderstood the question when he made the comment. Ziegler also...