Virginia instructor says she warned faculty 7 instances about abortion scandal

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On a latest morning, Centreville Excessive College instructor Zenaida Perez had a shock customer on the northern Virginia faculty the place she teaches English as a second language: a high-powered lawyer investigating allegations that Perez had made public {that a} faculty social employee coaxed and funded a student’s 2021 abortion .

The Clifton faculty district’s superintendent, Michelle Reid, responded to the allegations the subsequent day, claiming the varsity system had simply "discovered yesterday" in regards to the potential scandal. Final Thursday, Reid emailed Centreville Excessive College dad and mom, once more claiming that the district had taken "fast motion to interact an exterior unbiased investigator to get all of the information."

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Perez's customer was Mary McGowan, a retired lawyer from Blankingship & Keith, a longtime go-to agency for Fairfax County Public Colleges. In an almost three-hour interview, Perez advised McGowan how she had blown the whistle seven instances in regards to the abortion scandal since Could 2022, solely to be ignored after which retaliated towards.

Zenaida Perez, an English-as-a-second-language instructor at Centreville Excessive College in Clifton, Va., says she tried to reveal a faculty social employee who organized and paid for a pupil's abortion, however her warnings had been ignored.. (Fairfax County Public Colleges)

College district officers had been "overlaying up" the alleged abortion scandal, Perez mentioned she advised McGowan. within the interview.

"Your recollection is excellent," McGowan acknowledged at one level, in response to Perez. Certainly, an in depth evaluate of tons of of pages of paperwork, emails and information affirm Perez’s timeline.

Perez advised McGowan that she issued her first warning on Could 5, 2022, in a gathering with then-principal, Chad Lehman, and an assistant principal. She mentioned {that a} faculty social employee had allegedly facilitated and financed a 17-year-old pupil’s abortion the 12 months earlier than, with out her guardian’s information.

Perez mentioned she raised her considerations a second time in a letter despatched on Could 13, 2022, and she or he met once more with Lehman in November 2022 to revisit the difficulty a 3rd time, confirmed by an audio recording of the assembly.

FCPS coverage states that "each effort shall be made to encourage and help college students suspecting pregnancy to debate their considerations with their dad and mom or guardians." Nevertheless, it doesn't say FCPS workers ought to inform dad and mom about these conversations.

"As that is an ongoing personnel matter, we're not in a position to remark presently," a spokesman for Fairfax County Public Colleges mentioned when requested about Perez's account.

Born in Cuba, Perez migrated to the U.S. in 1990 after incomes a grasp’s diploma in educating English as a second language, usually referred to as "ESOL." After educating at Sarasota Public Colleges in Florida, she moved to Virginia, in the end touchdown a coveted job as a instructor in Fairfax County Public Colleges.

Practically 20% of scholars at Centreville Excessive College, in Clifton, Va., take English as a second language. (Fox Information Digital)

The highschool is "majority-minority." Virtually 20% of scholars are studying to talk English, in response to school demographic data . About one in 4 college students reside in low-income properties and qualify totally free or reduced-fee meals.

Within the spring of 2022, Perez advised the varsity board investigator she was blindsided when Lehman requested her if she’d given a being pregnant check to a pupil. She hadn’t, however she did study {that a} teen pupil from Guatemala advised her that the varsity social employee had made an appointment for the scholar to get an abortion at a Falls Church, Va., clinic in November 2021, and paid the bills.

In a statement written later that fall, the scholar detailed what allegedly occurred when she noticed the social employee. "She helped me with a being pregnant termination, or abortion," she wrote, in response to a translation from its authentic Spanish. "[She] made the appointment for me on the abortion clinic in Fairfax. She paid for the process and saved quiet about it, not letting my household know. I used to be apprehensive that my household would react very badly in the event that they knew about my being pregnant and the abortion."

"When the abortion was carried out, I used to be solely 17 years outdated," she concluded. The scholar and her guardian couldn’t be reached for remark.

Perez advised Fox Information Digital the scholar’s guardian, an uncle, didn’t know in regards to the abortion and was "furious."

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Per week after the Could 2022 assembly with Lehman, Perez says she despatched the then-principal a follow-up e mail, dated Could 13, 2022, reiterating that the varsity social employee had allegedly helped the scholar "clear up the being pregnant concern."

Perez had one other assembly with Lehman in November, a recording of which she shared with Fox Information Digital. Perez requested what he had meant when he had beforehand advised her the abortion allegations had been "regarding." Lehman responded: "I don’t keep in mind the assertion or the context of it, so I couldn’t reply that query with you proper now. I don’t keep in mind there being a dialog about that particularly."

She reminded the principal she had repeated her considerations in a letter. When she raised her considerations once more about Diaz facilitating an abortion, Lehman responded that he did not consider the social employee in query would have organized an abortion for a pupil.

Julie Perry, a instructor at Centreville Excessive College, recalled how she met Perez for the primary time that fall, as Perry stood outdoors Room 222A on the varsity’s second flooring. It was about 7:45 a.m., as college students scurried into lecture rooms for his or her first interval. Perry had simply run on the Republican ticket for state Home of Delegates, shedding in a district that's majority Democratic.

"I really feel sturdy. I've reality and God on my aspect." - Zenaida Perez

"God bless Zenaida for preventing by way of this," mentioned Perry. "What’s so unhappy are the higher-ups. They’re not involved in regards to the reality. They’re involved about maintaining silent about these abortions."

On March 7, Perez advised McGowan that she raised her considerations once more – now, for a sixth time – in a Zoom name with Heidi Siegmund, an legal professional at McGuireWoods, a regulation agency primarily based in Richmond, Va., investigating a separate concern of alleged office harassment on the faculty.

On March 19, Siegmund wrote to Perez and mentioned: "We may even be sure the Division Counsel’s workplace is conscious of your considerations," in response to a duplicate of the e-mail.

The division counsel’s workplace has for years employed attorneys from Blankingship & Keith as outdoors counsel.

In Could, Perez says she discovered extra stunning information: A teen advised her that the social employee had supplied to assist her get an abortion when she was 5 months pregnant. The teenager didn’t have an abortion and is now a younger mom, Perez mentioned.

The younger mom wrote a press release about her expertise, in response to a duplicate of the letter, written in Spanish, saying a faculty well being supplier "gave me the choice to have an abortion." Perez mentioned the scholar advised her the identical social employee had given her the recommendation.

Final week, as information of her allegations unfold, Perez watched in disbelief as the varsity superintendent, Reid, claimed that faculty district officers had simply discovered in regards to the considerations Perez had raised three years earlier and lots of instances over.

Early Monday morning, Perez returned to Centreville Excessive College from summer time break, armed with new resolve now that her warnings have been heard past Fairfax County Public Colleges.