Allegations that a Fairfax County school social worker facilitated student abortions are untrue, Superintendent Michelle Reid said in a letter to Centreville High School families on Friday.
Months after sharing an external investigation’s initial findings, Reid said the investigation has finished and found the allegations to be untrue and based on statements that were “misinterpreted, mistranslated, taken out of context, or in some cases knowingly fabricated.” The firm King & Spalding led the investigation.
A teacher alleged that a school social worker arranged and paid for student abortions without parental consent. In October, the school district said its preliminary investigation found the teacher fabricated the allegation, most likely to retaliate against the social worker.
But the accusations prompted a U.S. Department of Education investigation and an inquiry from Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who heads the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin also directed Virginia State Police to launch a probe. WTOP has contacted Youngkin’s office for clarity on whether those investigations are still ongoing.
The Department of Education confirmed to WTOP that the case is still under investigation.
The findings of the external counsel investigation, Reid said, were shared Friday with Virginia State Police and the Education Department.
“As important as it was to take these allegations seriously, we also believe we have a duty to be transparent about our findings and, regrettably, it appears that innocent CHS personnel in this case were wrongly and publicly accused of criminal acts without any sound factual basis,” Reid said.
“This situation has had a significant impact on those involved, and it reminds us of the responsibility we all share to act thoughtfully and compassionately as a caring, connected community,” she added.
The allegations stem from 2021, when the Centreville High School teacher claimed the social worker encouraged and helped students get abortions without permission from their parents.
According to school system documents, Centreville High Principal Chad Lehman didn’t cover up any facts or allegations. Instead, Lehman looked into the accusations in 2022 and “determined they lacked factual support.”
An unnamed student, documents said, informed investigators the social worker never pressured her to get an abortion, and the nurse communicated that parental consent would be required if she were to pursue one.
According to a supplemental statement posted on the school system’s website, the teacher “appears to have manipulated the content of a statement she procured from another student whom she claims was pressured” by the social worker to get a late-term abortion.
The teacher admitted she “desired to bring adverse attention” to the social worker who she saw as her “in-school enemy,” according to the statement.
More details on the district’s probe are available online.