LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — In a 6-2 vote late Friday afternoon, the Loudoun County School Board chose Dr. Aaron Spence as the school division’s next superintendent.
One member of the board was absent for the vote.
Spence currently leads Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) and has served as the school division’s superintendent since June 2014. In the role, he has been responsible for the instructional leadership and administrative operation of 86 schools and centers that serve more than 65,000 students. VBCPS has more than 10,000 employees.
Spence, who graduated from Green Run High School in Virginia Beach before attending the University of Virginia for his undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral studies, is married and has six children.
The Loudoun County School Board fired Dr. Scott Ziegler in December 2022 after the completion and release of a grand jury report which found that the school division “failed at all junctures” to prevent a second sexual assault from happening in Loudoun County Public Schools.
The report investigated how Loudoun County Public Schools, the Loudoun County School Board and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office handled two sexual assaults that happened in the division.
LCPS chief spokesman, Wayde Byard, also lost his job. He and Ziegler had charges brought against them.
The school board said Friday that Dr. Daniel Smith would continue to serve as acting superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools until Spence assumed the position in the coming months.