Loudoun County School Board appoints new Interim Superintendent

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:38 AM PT – Friday, December 9, 2022

The Loudoun County, Virginia Board of Education has appointed Daniel Smith as its schools new Interim Superintendent. This announcement comes after predecessor Scott Zeigler was fired due to covering up two sexual assault allegations from the same student.

At an emergency school board meeting which consisted of Chair Jeff Morse and six members of the board, Smith, who was hired in April, was voted in as the new Interim Superintendent.

Prior to his promotion, Smith was previously chief of staff at the school. He acquired his new position due to the firing of Zeigler. A grand jury report criticized Zeigler and the school system for their response to two sexual assaults that happened on campus by the same student.

During the emergency meeting, Morse said that he believes the board was misled.

“Obviously, there was some things in the grand jury report that we were unaware of,” Morse said. “They caught us by surprise.”

He went on to criticize the leadership under Zeigler, and said that the school is trying to restore trust within their community.

“There was a complete breakdown of leadership. And we know that on the board, we know that our staff knows that,” Morse said. “We’re going to do everything we can to restore trust.”

The board will be viewing recommendations for a permanent super intendent next Tuesday, with the goal of having the role filled around the beginning of July 2023, in time for the next school year.