What is happening in the Old Dominion? A couple of years ago, Virginia's Loudoun County School District ended up in the news after a boy who identified as trans was caught sexually assaulting female classmates, only for the district to move the boy to another school where he did it again. Parents were outraged, and one father was even arrested for confronting the school board who failed to protect his daughter.

Now the Albemarle County Schools are being blasted by parents after multiple school officials were arrested for failing to report the sexual assault of children in the district.

"Yesterday's arrests of three senior ACPS officials are a grim reminder of how bad things have gotten in our school district," the man said. "Police now say teachers and staff are hesitant to report child sexual abuse because they fear disciplinary action from leadership. That is a damning statement. The school board that oversaw this toxic culture cannot be the school board that fixes it."

"Since news broke yesterday about Jim Dillenbeck's resignation and three arrests, I'm left wondering: what is the next shoe to drop?" asked another man. Jim Dillenbeck was a member of the school board; he resigned on October 7. Superintendent Matthew Haas resigned in June and Allison Spillman, an at-large member of the school board, resigned in August in relation to this scandal.

Two current and one former Albemarle Schools employees were indicted last week for failing to report child abuse. Brodie Downs, the Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer, and Erin Stone, Assistant School Division Counsel & Title IX Coordinator are facing three misdemeanor counts. Former Hollymead Elementary School Principal Joe McCauley is also facing three misdemeanor counts. 

They were indicted following a months-long investigation by the Albemarle County Police Department. A former staff member of Hollymead Elementary, Michael Swiney, faces 20 felony counts involving seven alleged child victims. According to Hoodline, Swiney was indicted by the same grand jury on an additional nine counts of aggravated sexual battery.

Swiney was arrested in June after an investigation after a victim came forward back in January and told school staff Swiney had engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with them.

The aforementioned administrators failed to report suspected child abuse under Virginia's mandatory reporting law.

It shouldn't take a scandal to hold school boards accountable. Hopefully parents in Albemarle remove everyone from the school board and restore sanity to the school.