In yet another scandal involving Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), an email published on Twitter shows school security officials told school administrators to seek warrants from magistrate judges to arrest students who refused to wear masks.
An email from security head John Clark, posted on Twitter by commentator Ned Ryun, shows Clark giving teachers instructions on February 1 about how to obtain those warrants. The instructions were given just after the school vowed to defy Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who banned mask mandates on his first day in office.
The school system decided that students without masks would be deemed trespassers.
“If you determine that an individual should be trespassed then a school admin representative, in conjunction with S&S Coordinator Rich Thomas, will proceed to the magistrate to swear out a trespass summons/warrant,” the email says. “School admin will meet Rich Thomas at the Safety & Security office and then proceed to the magistrate, which is located next to our office.”
This was sent out by @LCPSOfficial to all Principals in Loudoun County this afternoon. And these people think they’re on the right side of science and history. . . pic.twitter.com/8jnUR01eWq
— Ned Ryun (@nedryun) February 7, 2022
“Trespasser name, address and DOB will be needed to obtain a summons/warrant,” the email says, adding that it could take 24 hours to actually issue the summons or the warrant.
It also notes that members of the media are not allowed on school grounds, meaning nobody could document the issuance of a potential warrant served to a child.
The email also says that parents should only be admitted to the school at the school’s discretion.
“Reminder: while parents have certain educational rights, they do NOT have the right to enter the school without proper vetting and permission.”
LCPS Superintendent Scott Zeigler said in a February 4 release that no students have been arrested for trespassing.
“LCPS does not have the authority to arrest or charge any suspended students or their parents for trespassing,” he said in that release. “Furthermore, LCPS has not requested that local law enforcement charge any student with trespassing in connection with recent suspensions.”
Students, he said, may be suspended for refusal to wear masks or follow other COVID-19 protocols.
“Any student who is suspended from school and returns to school property, without administrative permission, may be issued a trespass notice,” the release said. “This is standard practice and a warning that appears on all suspension notices. Again, students suspended for defiance of COVID mitigation protocols will not be charged with trespassing.”
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said the threat of charging students with trespassing was “astonishing.”
“I’ve gotta admit, that was pretty astonishing even coming from the Loudoun County administrators,” he said last week in an interview on The Jeff Katz Show on WRVA.
LCPS did not return a comment request.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
