A group of Loudoun County parents announced Tuesday they had compiled the required number of signatures to trigger the removal of the school board chairwoman and mount legal challenges to remove three other board members.
County parents associated with the political action committee Fight for Schools announced to the board at its Tuesday meeting that they had compiled over 2,000 signatures to remove Loudoun County school board Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan. They also revealed they had enough signatures to initiate legal action to remove Vice-Chairwoman Atoosa Reaser and board members Ian Serotkin and Denise Curbo.
WORRIED PARENTS TAKE OVER SCHOOL BOARD SEATS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
“By the way, Denise, Brenda, Ian, Atoosa, we are well over 100% of required signatures for the petitions,” county parent Megan Jenkins told the board. “So I’m not going to encourage any of you to resign because when you are recalled and removed from office, it will be much more satisfying. See you in court.”
The Daily Mail reported that Virginia law requires attempts to remove elected officials to accumulate signatures totaling at least 10% of the total votes cast in the prior election. Filing the petition then triggers court proceedings in which a judge or jury will decide whether or not the official will be removed.
“As Chairwoman, Brenda Sheridan has overseen and personally contributed to a complete breakdown in trust between the community and the Loudoun County School Board,” Ian Prior, executive director of Fight for Schools, told the Daily Mail. “From violating open meetings law to ignoring the school board’s code of conduct to neglecting to keep our children safe, all for her activist causes, Sheridan has been nothing short of a disaster as the so-called leader of Loudoun County Public Schools.”
The Loudoun County school board became the central focus of a national movement of parents concerned about public education after it was revealed that the board and county Superintendent Scott Ziegler had been aware of a May sexual assault perpetrated by a male student in the women’s bathroom of a local high school. The student was allowed to transfer to another high school, where he was subsequently charged with committing a second assault.
The father of the victim, Scott Smith, spoke at a June school board meeting and was arrested following a confrontation with law enforcement after he said a woman told him she didn’t believe his daughter had been raped.
Smith was found guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest for his role in the scuffle.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Virginia Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares has vowed to investigate the Loudoun County school board over its handling of sexual assaults and has even named Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman to his transition team, WJLA reported.
