The superintendent of Virginia-based Loudoun County Public Schools received a $28,000 pay raise despite his multiple failures to adequately inform parents about two sexual assaults, according to a local news outlet.
Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler now makes a total salary of $323,000 alongside his $1,000 monthly vehicle allowance, according to WJLA. The Loudoun County School Board approved the pay raise per Ziegler’s 2021 contract.
Ziegler’s contract permits hefty pay raises if the majority of school board members evaluate his performance as “proficient,” the local news outlet reported. Criteria for evaluation include, “Strategic leadership, planning and assessment, instructional leadership, organizational leadership and resource management, communication and community relations, culturally responsive and equitable division leadership, professional, and division-wide student academic progress.”
Two school board members, Andrew Hoyler and Denise Corbo, told WJLA that they did not rate Ziegler as proficient.
Former school board member Beth Barts, who was on the board when Ziegler’s contract was approved, said she had “no idea” that the superintendent’s contract would lead to such a hefty raise.
“I had no idea when we agreed to the superintendent’s contract in May of 2021, that he would receive almost a $30,000 raise a year later based on a ‘proficient’ evaluation by the current board,” Barts wrote on Facebook. “I apologize to the educators and support staff of LCPS as well as the taxpayers of Loudoun County. I know many of you are getting less than a $1,00 raise next year and are truly struggling with the cost of food and gas as well as rising real estate taxes/rent and health insurance premiums.”
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Ziegler drew the ire of parents nationwide after a bombshell report uncovered that he engaged in the cover-up of two sexual assaults in two separate high schools. The father of one victim was arrested at a school board meeting for expressing his frustration with Ziegler. (RELATED: Loudoun County Parents Demand Superintendent Resign Over Allegations Of Sexual Assault Cover-Up)
Parents in the Loudoun County area told the Daily Caller that they are astounded that the school board would rate Ziegler’s performance as “proficient.” Ziegler also received backlash from parents and educators after a teacher was temporarily suspended for refusing to use transgender pronouns.
“Scott Ziegler has spent his short time as superintendent turning his leadership of LCPS into a national punchline,” said Ian Prior, a parent in the district and the executive director of Fight for Schools.
“From their statements, we know that school board members Andrew Hoyler and Denise Corbo rated him not proficient, so it is incumbent upon the rest of the school board to explain their evaluation of him and exactly what they think a superintendent has to do to get an evaluation of not proficient,” Prior said.
Father Scott Mineo alleged to the Daily Caller that Hoyler, one of the board members who rated Ziegler as “not proficient,” only did so to bolster himself for an upcoming special school board election.
“I believe this is an attempt to try and modestly separate himself from Superintendent Ziegler because of the special election in November,” Mineo said. “Andrew Hoyler has voted for Ziegler’s Indoctrination Plan, for sexualized books in our libraries, and for mask and vaccine mandates. He holds Zieger in high regard. I find his attempt to make himself out to be some sort of hero or savior empty and way short.”
Erika Sanzi, the director of outreach for the concerned parent organization Parents Defending Education, told the Daily Caller that Ziegler’s pay raise is a reward for doing a poor job.
“This is precisely the kind of thing that inspires rage in parents and the tax paying public. Regardless of one’s opinion on policies in Loudoun, the district has not been honest or transparent in the wake of reasonable questions and fair criticism,” Sanzi said. “What exactly is the superintendent being rewarded for other than bringing national scrutiny and shame on the school system he runs?”
Loudoun County Public Schools did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
