Duval Superintendent candidate finalist not connected to Loudoun County school scandal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One of the finalists in contention to become Duval’s next school superintendent is raising some concerns from members of the community.

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Those concerns stem from an alleged cover up of a sexual assault scandal in the school district he currently works for, but based on everything Action News Jax has reviewed, he was not involved.

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Action News Jax received multiple viewer emails expressing concerns about Dr. Daniel Smith due to his ties to the Loudoun County School District in Virginia.

The district was marred in controversy back in 2021 after a student accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student was transferred to a different school within the district.

That student was then accused of a second sexual assault at the new school.

Parents accused district leaders of mishandling the situation and attempting to cover it up.

But there’s no indication Smith had anything to do with the scandal.

Smith is never named in the grand jury report that investigated the district’s handling of the alleged assaults.

READ: DCPS board members blast new police chief for ‘credibility’ issues over ties to Kent Stermon case

In fact, Smith was serving as principal of a school in an entirely different district during the scandal.

Smith was hired as Chief of Staff for Louden County in April of 2022 after the district’s prior Chief of Staff was ousted due to his handling of the alleged sexual assaults.

Smith was then named Acting Superintendent in December of that year after the prior superintendent who had overseen the scandal was pushed out by the school board.

According to reporting by the Loudoun Times, as Interim Superintendent, Smith pushed forward improvements to case management for problem students and also worked to enhance communication between the district and parents.

Given the recent allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers at Douglas Anderson and the district’s handling of those allegations here in Duval, there are parallels that could be drawn to the issues Loudoun County faced back in 2021.

It was even the subject of a question posed by members of the Duval School Board to superintendent candidates.

READ: DCPS to select superintendent finalists at special meeting Tuesday afternoon

In his written response, Smith didn’t directly address the specifics of the scandal in Loudoun County, but did reference some of the actions he took to address student conduct during his tenure as Acting Superintendent.

“Drawing from my experience as superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, I would facilitate community listening sessions to rebuild trust and gain insights into the issues at hand,” Smith wrote.

Action News Jax reached out to Smith directly regarding his time in Loudoun.

“I believe that it is important that I adhere to the interview process as established by the Duval County School Board and I would not want to be perceived as circumventing that process in any way,” Smith wrote in an emailed response.

Smith added he’d be willing to speak with us in more detail after the interview process is complete.

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