Loudoun County School Board Fails Again

Dear Editor:

Just when parents in Loudoun thought the school board couldn’t get any worse, they succeed in reaching a new low. On Feb. 14, the school board voted 6-3 to NOT release the Blankingship & Keith report that was championed by the now disgraced and fired former superintendent, Scott Zeigler.

The Leesburg rep, Ms. Ogedegbe, stated that if the report is redacted the remaining information would not be useful and also that releasing the report could infringe on student privacy rights.

Mind you, she campaigned on a platform to be transparent and stated publicly at a prior board meeting she wanted the report to be released. She could have walked away a hero but instead fumbled miserably, crashed, and burned.

Atoosa Reaser, who is seeking higher political office, agreed with Ogedegbe and then incredulously went on to imply the report was insignificant because it was compiled under a corrupt superintendent. Convenient political statement to blame the former superintendent to save face in her future political career.

Ian Serotkin, consistently being the unethical and immoral person he is, hid behind attorney-client privilege and despite being an elected public official beholden to the voters, he chose to go down the path of self-preservation and protecting the institution rather than heal a very divided community. He is the institutional cancer in LCPS.

Mr. Beatty, Ms. Polifko, and Ms. Corbo all gave compelling statements as to why releasing the report was the ethical thing to do and Ms. Corbo reminded the board that they have a responsibility to the voters because they were elected to represent them.

In the end many of the board members that were complicit with the coverups and the scandals remained silent, looking dumbfounded and voted to keep the report secret.

The tension in the room was palpable and attendees were clearly disgusted with the outcome, myself included. In the last two plus years, I have come to realize that this school board and administration have no desire to serve the parents/guardians, and children of Loudoun, and are only in it for themselves.

I hope that these actions wake people up to the depth of immorality and absence of ethics in the school board and that voters choose anyone (Democrat, Republican, Independent) but the current board who may seek reelection.

NOTE: Rumor has it that Ian Serotkin will be running for reelection in the at-large seat and Mahedavi will also seek reelection. Last night’s vote was a nail in their coffins symbolizing the end of their political careers and that of Ms. Ogedegbe as well.

Michael Rivera
Leesburg