DOE probes FCPS schools following allegations of staff-arranged abortions

EXCLUSIVE: Teacher who claimed FCPS staff member funded student's abortion speaks out

Virginia State Police continue to investigate after allegations surfaced that staff at a Fairfax County school arranged abortions for students without their parents? permission. The teacher who first made those allegations spoke exclusively with FOX 5's Sydney Persing tonight.

WASHINGTON - The US Dept. of Education is taking action following allegations that staff at a Fairfax County school arranged abortions for students without their parents’ permission.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) announced on Monday enforcement action against FCPS under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, under which schools must tell parents about things like physical exams and other rights for parents of students. 

The backstory:

Zenaida Perez, a teacher at Centerville High School, told FOX 5 DC that in 2022 a student told her a school social worker arranged for her to have an abortion, without alerting a parent or guardian.

Perez alleges she spoke to the girl’s guardian, who told her he only learned of the abortion after the fact, when he found the young girl bleeding heavily. 

In the US Dept. of Education's announcement, they site two reported instances of a social worker at Centreville High School speaking to students about having an abortion. 

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngking directed Virginia State Police to open a criminal investigation earlier this month into what he called "alleged school-funded abortions."

FCPS told FOX 5 DC in a statement: "FCPS is fully cooperating with the Virginia State Police investigation, and it would not be appropriate to comment further on these 2021 allegations. At no time would this alleged situation, as described, be acceptable in Fairfax County Public Schools." 

What's next:

The US Dept. of Education is requiring FCPS to investigate the incidents and respond by October 17 with the following: 

• A copy of Fairfax’s general notice to parents notifying them of their rights under PPRA during the 2021-22 through 2025-26 school years;
• A copy of any policies or procedures in effect during the 2021-22 through 2025-26 school years that relate to non-emergency, invasive physical examinations or screening, and how parents were consulted in the development of such policies and procedures;
• Documentation of any communications, directives, or training materials provided to school staff regarding the handling of sensitive medical services, including abortion-related referrals or procedures;
• Any records related to the alleged incidents of school personnel facilitating the provision of abortion services to minors; and
• A statement explaining whether any U.S. Department of Education funds were used, in whole or in part, in connection with the sensitive medical services, including abortion-related referrals or procedures.

What they're saying:

"It shocks the conscience to learn that school personnel in Fairfax have allegedly exploited their positions of trust to push abortion services on students without parental knowledge or consent. Children do not belong to the government—decisions touching deeply held values should be made within loving families. It is both morally unconscionable and patently illegal for school officials to keep parents in the dark about such intimate, life-altering procedures pertaining to their children," said U.S. Department of Education’s Acting General Counsel Candice Jackson. "The Trump Administration will not stand by idly as these abuses unfold in our schools. We will take swift and decisive action to put an end to this and restore parental authority, which stems from their ultimate responsibility for their children’s wellbeing."