Loudoun County Public Schools

Loudoun County Public Schools is a branch of the Loudoun County, Virginia, United States government, and administers public schools in the county. LCPS's headquarters is located at 21000 Education Court in Ashburn, an unincorporated section of the county.
Due to rapid growth in the region, LCPS is one of the fastest-growing school divisions in Virginia and the third largest school division in the state. For the 2022–23 school year, LCPS educated approximately 82,233 students

History

The Loudoun County Public Schools system was formally established in 1870, following the Virginia General Assembly's mandate to provide public education for all children in the state. Prior to this, education in Loudoun County was primarily conducted through private means or informal community efforts. By the fall of 1870, LCPS operated 55 schools, and within three years, an additional 55 schools were constructed, reflecting the community's commitment to education. Many of these early institutions were one-room schoolhouses serving all grade levels.
During the Reconstruction era, African American communities in Loudoun County, with assistance from the Freedmen's Bureau and northern philanthropic organizations, established schools to educate Black children. Despite these efforts, the state of Virginia implemented a segregated public school system, and African American students often attended underfunded and inferior schools compared to their white counterparts.
LCPS was among the last school districts in the United States to desegregate, initiating the process only in 1967, more than a decade after the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. In 2020, LCPS issued a formal apology to the Black community for its prolonged resistance to desegregation and the systemic inequities that persisted during that period. The apology acknowledged the hardships endured by Black students and families due to the district's actions.
The latter half of the 20th century brought significant demographic changes to Loudoun County, particularly following the opening of Washington Dulles International Airport in 1962. This development spurred rapid suburbanization, transforming the county from a predominantly rural area into a burgeoning suburban community. Between 2000 and 2020, LCPS responded to the county's population growth by opening 51 new schools, including 28 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, 11 high schools, and one educational center.
As of the 2022–23 academic year, LCPS operates 98 schools and serves approximately 82,000 students, making it the third-largest school division in Virginia. The district continues to adapt to the evolving needs of its diverse student population, emphasizing equity, inclusion, and academic excellence.

Administration

The LCPS system, while operated on a day-to-day basis by the Superintendent, is managed under the direction and authority of the Loudoun County School Board, a nine-member panel elected by citizens in the county. Eight of the nine board positions are divided among voting districts that represent communities throughout the county, while the ninth seat is elected at-large by the entire county. The voting districts correspond to those used for Loudoun County Board of Supervisors elections. Unlike the Board of Supervisors, the chairmanship of the School Board is elected annually by its members, while the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is always the at-large seat. While the School Board makes decisions relating to school policy and curriculum, it receives funding through the Board of Supervisors.

School Board

School Board Members History

	At-Large	Algonkian	Ashburn	Broad Run	Catoctin	Dulles	Leesburg	Little River	Sterling
1996-1999	Wendell T. Fisher	Candyce Prichard Cassell	Edward John Kiley	Ellen D. Oliver	Harry J. Brown	Joseph William Vogric	Jeffrey Michael Maged	Harry Frank Holsinger	Deborah Kim Price-Munoz
1996-1999	Wendell T. Fisher	Candyce Prichard Cassell	Edward John Kiley	Susan N. Hembach	Harry J. Brown	Joseph William Vogric	Jeffrey Michael Maged	Harry Frank Holsinger	Deborah Kim Price-Munoz
2000-2003	Thomas Edward Reed	Candyce Prichard Cassell	Patrick F. Chorpenning Jr.	John Albert Andrews II	Geary Michael Higgins	Joseph William Vogric	Frederick Felix Flemming	Harry Frank Holsinger	James Warren Geurin
2000-2003	Thomas Edward Reed	Candyce Prichard Cassell	Robert Floyd Dupree Jr.	John Albert Andrews II	Geary Michael Higgins	Joseph William Vogric	Frederick Felix Flemming	Harry Frank Holsinger	James Warren Geurin
2004-2007	Thomas Edward Reed	Joseph M. Guzman	John Albert Andrews II	Robert Joseph Ohneiser	Mark Joseph Nuzzaco	Robert Floyd Dupree Jr.	Sarah B. Smith	Priscilla Bentley Godfrey	James Warren Geurin
2004-2007	Thomas Edward Reed	Joseph M. Guzman	John B. Stevens Jr.	Robert Joseph Ohneiser	Mark Joseph Nuzzaco	Robert Floyd Dupree Jr.	Sarah B. Smith	Priscilla Bentley Godfrey	James Warren Geurin
2008-2011	Thomas Edward Reed	Joseph M. Guzman	John B. Stevens Jr.	Robert Joseph Ohneiser	Jennifer Keller Bergel	Robert Floyd Dupree Jr.	Thomas Corbett Marshall	Priscilla Bentley Godfrey	James Warren Geurin
2008-2011	Thomas Edward Reed	Joseph M. Guzman	John B. Stevens Jr.	Robert Joseph Ohneiser	Jennifer Keller Bergel	Robert Floyd Dupree Jr.	Thomas Corbett Marshall	Priscilla Bentley Godfrey	Brenda L. Sheridan
2012-2015	Thomas Edward Reed	Debra Kay Rose	Eric David Hornberger	Kevin John Kuesters	Jennifer Keller Bergel	Jeffrey Edward Morse	William Dale Fox	Jill Annette Turgeon	Brenda L. Sheridan
2016-2019	Elizabeth Ann Huck	Debra Kay Rose	Eric David Hornberger	Joy-Ann Rose Maloney	Eric Joseph DeKenipp	Jeffrey Edward Morse	Thomas Corbett Marshall	Jill Annette Turgeon	Brenda L. Sheridan
2016-2019	Elizabeth Ann Huck	Debra Kay Rose	Eric David Hornberger	Joy-Ann Rose Maloney	Christina M. Croll	Jeffrey Edward Morse	Thomas Corbett Marshall	Jill Annette Turgeon	Brenda L. Sheridan
2020-2023	Denise Renee Corbo	Atoosa Reza Reaser	Harris Mahedavi	Leslee Maureen King	John Patrick Beatty	Jeffrey Edward Morse	Elizabeth Rae Barts	Ian Jeffrey Serotkin	Brenda L. Sheridan
2020-2023	Denise Renee Corbo	Atoosa Reza Reaser	Harris Mahedavi	Andrew Thomas Hoyler	John Patrick Beatty	Jeffrey Edward Morse	Thomas Corbett Marshall	Ian Jeffrey Serotkin	Brenda L. Sheridan
2020-2023	Denise Renee Corbo	Atoosa Reza Reaser	Harris Mahedavi	Tiffany L. Polifko	John Patrick Beatty	Jeffrey Edward Morse	Erika R. Ogedegbe	Ian Jeffrey Serotkin	Brenda L. Sheridan
2024-2025	Anne Pogue Donohue	April Moore Chandler	Deana L. Griffiths	Dr. Linda Worrell Deans	Karen Lee LaBell	Melinda Marie Mansfield	Lauren E. Shernoff	Dr. Sumera Rashid	Arben Istrefi
2026-2027	Anne Pogue Donohue	April Moore Chandler	Deana L. Griffiths	Ross C. Svenson	Karen Lee LaBell	Jonathon A. Pepper	Lauren E. Shernoff	Dr. Sumera Rashid	Amy M. Riccardi

Demographics

As of the 2023-24 school year Loudoun County Public Schools Demographics are as follows:

40.4% White
26.0% Asian
19.5% Hispanic
7.3% Black
5.9% Mixed Races
0.7% American Indian
Controversies

2021 sexual assaults

Sexual assaults and charges

On May 28, 2021, a male teenager was accused of sexually assaulting a female student in a girls' restroom at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn. The two had agreed to meet in the restroom, where they had previously engaged in consensual sexual encounters. School officials immediately reported the assault to law enforcement. Following a weeks-long investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, a 14-year-old male was arrested on July 8, 2021, and charged with two counts of forcible sodomy. The suspect spent time in a juvenile detention facility before being released and placed on electronic monitoring. He was transferred to Broad Run High School in Ashburn.
On October 6, 2021, the same male teenager, aged 15 at the time, was accused of sexually assaulting a female student in an empty classroom at Broad Run High School. The male student was arrested the following day and charged with sexual battery and abduction of a fellow student. He was again held in a juvenile detention facility.
On October 25, 2021, the suspect was found guilty on all charges for the May 28 assault. On November 15, 2021, the suspect pleaded no contest to a felony charge of abduction and a misdemeanor count of sexual battery for the October 6 assault. He was set to be sentenced on December 13, 2021, but sentencing was delayed until January 2022 in order for the court to perform a psychology evaluation on him and explore residential treatment facility options. In January 2022, the suspect was found guilty on all four charges and was sentenced to complete a "residential program in a locked-down facility" and placed on supervised probation until he turned 18, and ordered to register as a sex offender in Virginia. Loudoun County Juvenile Judge Court Judge Pamela L. Brooks said she had never previously ordered a minor to register as a sex offender, stating, "You scare me. What I read in those reports scared me and should scare families and scare society. You need a lot of help." The perpetrator apologized to the two victims in court. Judge Brooks said that there was a third victim who had not come forward to press charges.
Later that month, Brooks decided against placing the perpetrator on the sex offender registry, due to the offender's young age and data indicating that teenagers placed on the registry go on to have higher recidivism rates.
In October 2023, one of the victims filed a lawsuit against the school district for $30 million, alleging that school officials failed to heed warning signs about her attacker and attempted to cover up her sexual assault.