Loudoun County parents of suspended students claim privacy violation, unfair punishment

ASHBURN, Va. (DC News Now) — The 10-day suspensions for two Stone Bridge High School students are on hold, after their attorneys filed an appeal Tuesday night.

“My heart is devastated,” Seth Wolfe, the father of one of the boys, said.

The Loudon County Public School District (LCPS) suspended the two on Friday.

“Instead of protecting students’ privacy and acknowledging biological realities, the school system has punished innocent boys with trumped-up charges that could jeopardize their future,” Wolfe said during Wednesday’s news conference in front of the school.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears joined a couple of dozen supporters who gathered to show their support for the two families.

The boys filed a complaint after they spotted a transgender student in the school’s locker room and allegedly video-recorded them.

“We believe it was a Title IX Violation,” Josh Hetzler, with the Founding Freedoms Law Center, and the boys’ attorney, said.

The questionable act violates LCPS Policy 8655, which bans recordings in such places as locker rooms.

LCPS sent a statement to DC News Now regarding the incident.

At no time would LCPS suspend a student simply because they expressed some kind of discomfort. A reading of our Title IX resources should make it clear that there is a high bar to launch a Title IX investigation and an even higher bar to determine a student is in violation of Title IX.

It is the general practice of LCPS not to publicly discuss private student matters. I can state that the division has a comprehensive and objective process for Title IX investigations.
Loudoun County Public Schools

Three boys originally complained. However, the LCPS investigation cleared one of them.

“You can avoid litigation,” Hetzler said. “But if they don’t change their mind, litigation is coming.”