Virginia
Virginia AG drops case that accused ex-superintendent of firing teacher in retaliation
Virginia’s attorney general dropped a case against a former school superintendent who was accused of firing a teacher because she spoke out about a student inappropriately touching her.
The former teacher, Erin Brooks, wanted to put the matter behind her and recently resolved a lawsuit against the former superintendent and Loudoun County Public Schools, the attorney general’s office said in a court filing Thursday.
“Words cannot express how grateful I am to the office of and the Attorney General himself, for the unwavering support and dedication to this case,” Brooks said in a statement released by Attorney General Jason Miyares.
The former superintendent, Scott Ziegler, maintained his stance that the case was politically motivated. Ziegler also said in a statement that “new evidence would have demonstrated that I acted in the best interest of Loudoun County’s most vulnerable students.”
The attorney general’s office was pursuing a conviction against Ziegler for the second time. He was convicted in 2023 on a misdemeanor count of violating Virginia’s conflict of interest laws for retaliating against Brooks.
A judge ruled last year that faulty jury instructions rendered the conviction illegitimate, even though there was “ample evidence” to support a jury’s conclusion of retaliation. A new trial was supposed to start next month.
Brooks had worked as a special education teacher in Loudoun County, which is outside of Washington. She spoke to a special grand jury that was investigating the school system for its handling of sexual assaults.
Brooks told the grand jury and school system critics about her difficulties dealing with a special needs student in elementary school who had been touching her inappropriately.
Prosecutors said Ziegler’s efforts to ensure Brooks’ teaching contract was not renewed amounted to retaliation for her speaking out on a matter of public interest.
Ziegler argued at trial that the teacher’s dismissal was unrelated to her speaking out. His lawyers also argued that the prosecution was politically motivated.
Miyares, a Republican, and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin had criticized Loudoun school system administrators during their successful 2021 campaigns for office.
They claimed that school leadership ignored parent concerns about the handling of transgender students, as well as the school system’s handling of a student who sexually assaulted classmates at two different high schools that year.
The case received outsized attention because the boy who was convicted in both attacks wore a skirt in one of them, assaulting a girl in the women’s bathroom. It played into a national debate over how schools should treat transgender students and whether they should be allowed to use restrooms different to their biological sex.
Miyares had convened the special grand jury at Youngkin’s request in January 2022. A scathing report that December accused the school system of mishandling the high school assaults, the superintendent of lying to the public, and authorities of ignoring multiple warning signs.
In his statement Thursday, Ziegler said prosecutors in his case disregarded facts and wasted taxpayer money.
“At its core, this effort was designed to sway voters in Northern Virginia, prioritizing political gain over truth and justice,” he said.
In his news release, Miyares said he would “protect the rights of teachers and parents without hesitation.”
“Sometimes it takes the courage of one person to stand firm to create change,” Miyares said. “Today, the entire national narrative has changed thanks to Erin’s resilience. Erin’s demand to be respected was upheld by a jury of her own peers.”
Jessica Aber, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia has died. She was 43.
Jessica Aber, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was found dead on Saturday. She was 43.
A statement from Alexandria Police said Aber was confirmed dead after officers responded to the 900 block of Beverly Drive in Alexandria, Virginia at approximately 9:18 a.m.
Officers were initially called to the scene in response to an unresponsive woman.
A cause of death has not yet been released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia. An investigation is underway.
Local leaders are remembering her work as a public servant.
Erik Siebert, who serves as the current U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, remembered Aber as an “unmatched as a leader, mentor, and prosecutor.”
“She is simply irreplaceable as a human being. We remain in awe of how much she accomplished in her all too brief time in this world,” he said in a statement. “Jess was a proud Virginian from high school through college and throughout her career.”
Aber was nominated to serve as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia during former President Joe Biden’s term in office. She had been unanimously confirmed to serve in the posting.
During her time in that role, Aber led a staff of 300 prosecutors, civil litigators and support personnel across the state. Aber resigned from the position in January, when President Donald Trump came into office.
WTOP’s Gaby Arancibia contributed to this report.
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Defending champs UConn vs No. 1 seed Florida leads Sunday slate
Mackenzie Salmon previews the best games during Sundays slate of games in the round of 32 including the defending champs UConn taking on Florida.
Sports Seriously
Virginia hired Ryan Odom, who once led UMBC to one of the NCAA Tournament’s greatest upsets, as its new men’s basketball coach, the school announced Saturday.
Odom spent the last two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth University, posting a 52-21 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament this year. The Rams lost to BYU 80-71 in the first round on Thursday.
The 50-year-old Odom replaces Tony Bennett, who retired in October, just weeks before the season. Ron Sanchez was named the interim coach and led the Cavaliers to a 15-17 record, missing the postseason, and it was announced he would not be retained as the next coach.
Odom, whose father Dave was a head coach at South Carolina, Wake Forest, and East Carolina and was an assistant at Virginia in the 1980s, has also coached at Charlotte and Utah State.
His biggest success was with UMBC, when the 16-seeded Retrievers upset No. 1-seed Virginia in the first round of the 2018 tournament.
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2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
- NCAA Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
Championship Record: 3:21.01 – Virginia (Walsh, Nocentini, Walsh, Parker), 2024- American Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
- U.S. Open Record: 3:19.58 – Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch), 2025
- 2024 Champion: Virginia (Walsh, Nocentini, Walsh, Parker) – 3:21.01
TOP 8 FINISHERS:
- Virginia (Curzan, Walsh, Walsh, Moesch) – 3:20.20 (Meet Record)
- Tennessee (Fuller, McSharry, Stotler, Spink) – 3:24.99
- Florida (Sims, Bottazzo Peoples, Cronk) – 3:25.18
- Indiana (DeWitt, Crawford, Grana, Paegle) – 3:25.83
- Texas (Bray, Enge, Sticklen, Nesty) – 3:26.11
- Stanford (Parkhe, Thomas, Huske, Nordmann) – 3:26.34
- USC (Famous, Dobler, Sasseville, Abraham) – 3:26.82
- Louisville (Murray, Cheatwood, Welch, Dennis) – 3:27.76
The Virginia women’s 400 medley relay of Claire Curzan, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, and Anna Moesch swam to a new NCAA meet record posting a 3:20.20. The relay also swam the #2 performance of all-time sitting right behind their own NCAA and American Records of a 3:18.58 that they swam at ACCs last month.
Split Comparison
The biggest difference today was Gretchen Walsh as she split a 47.35 on the fly leg, faster than the 49.15 that sister Alex Walsh swam in the previous meet record.
Notably, Curzan and Gretchen Walsh were all slower in their relay swim tonight compared to their individual wins earlier in the session in their respective stroke 100s. Curzan won the 100 back in a 49.11 while Gretchen Walsh was off her winning time of a 46.97.
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