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The Battle for Loudoun County: Inside the Culture War Between a "Woke" School Board and the Radical Right in America's Wealthiest Suburb
In 2021, a new battleground in America’s political and cultural wars emerged—local school boards.
Seemingly overnight, parents across the country joined with activist groups and political figures at all levels to engage in heated—sometimes violent—fights over issues such as COVID mandates, retrofitting bathrooms to accommodate changing gender representation, and the teaching of American history through the lens of race.
At the epicenter of this outrage machine was Loudoun County, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and the wealthiest county in the nation.
As the county’s beloved public schools information officer for more than twenty years, Wayde Byard had a front-row seat to the transformation of public education from the bedrock of community to a vicious political knife-fight, complete with death threats and arrests after riotous meetings.
But it wasn’t until the sexual assault of a high school girl by a boy who was described as wearing a dress became national news that he became something he never expected—a target of a politically motivated felony investigation.
Accused, along with the superintendent, by an ambitious, conservative governor and attorney general of covering up the crime, Byard—who most students knew from his popular announcements of snow days—was ultimately acquitted of a perjury charge but left with a troubling awareness that what happened to him could happen to anyone.
The Battle for Loudoun County provides a rare and intimate window into the dangers of America’s “bathroom wars” and the culture of outrage that, if left unchecked, will tear our country apart.
Seemingly overnight, parents across the country joined with activist groups and political figures at all levels to engage in heated—sometimes violent—fights over issues such as COVID mandates, retrofitting bathrooms to accommodate changing gender representation, and the teaching of American history through the lens of race.
At the epicenter of this outrage machine was Loudoun County, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and the wealthiest county in the nation.
As the county’s beloved public schools information officer for more than twenty years, Wayde Byard had a front-row seat to the transformation of public education from the bedrock of community to a vicious political knife-fight, complete with death threats and arrests after riotous meetings.
But it wasn’t until the sexual assault of a high school girl by a boy who was described as wearing a dress became national news that he became something he never expected—a target of a politically motivated felony investigation.
Accused, along with the superintendent, by an ambitious, conservative governor and attorney general of covering up the crime, Byard—who most students knew from his popular announcements of snow days—was ultimately acquitted of a perjury charge but left with a troubling awareness that what happened to him could happen to anyone.
The Battle for Loudoun County provides a rare and intimate window into the dangers of America’s “bathroom wars” and the culture of outrage that, if left unchecked, will tear our country apart.
- GenresNonfiction
368 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 21, 2025
I do appreciate Wayde’s candor throughout the book. It would’ve been very easy to sift this through a legal framework and make it a lifeless expression of innocence. Instead, it’s a remarkably candid stream of consciousness.
Even before he was ultimately acquitted, it seemed like the charges levied against Wayde were to get a plea deal & testimony against Ziegler (and maybe others). There is nothing in this book that leads you to question his innocence either. However, that does not mean he portrays himself in a positive light.
For all his talk about wanting to take the high road and avoid making emotional statements, this book includes some truly ugly quotes about Scott Smith.
Was this case weaponized by cultural warriors? Almost certainly. His daughter was still sexually assaulted. Was he frustrating/annoying to deal with in public scenarios? I could imagine so! But, I have no idea how I would react if my daughter was sexually assaulted at school. I really don’t. And I could not believe the smugness with which Wayde wrote about the victim’s father.
The victim and her (convicted) assailant had a previously consensual encounter at school in weeks prior. Her father advised her not to mention this during initial interviews, instead encouraging her to focus on description of the pertinent events — a decidedly non-consensual encounter.
This was Wayde Byard’s take: “When Scott Smith screamed at school board meetings about what was being hidden, I wondered how he’d feel about making this public.”
Either he is implying A) the assault was a lie and this salacious fact would unravel the scheme or B) the assault was real, but it would be uniquely embarrassing for his daughter’s sexual activity to be public. Both are disgusting sentiments. I empathize with Wayde’s situation, pointlessly dealing with a felony trial. In my view, that doesn’t give you free license to tee off at a victim and her family.
Outside of that, this book could have probably used a tighter edit. On the culture wars themselves, I don’t think the book offers any insight Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow haven’t already offered (replete with references to blue-haired activists and right-wing dog whistles). Local readers receive a look at an LCPS folk hero and a bit more information about his trial, but it’s more a novelty than anything else.
Even before he was ultimately acquitted, it seemed like the charges levied against Wayde were to get a plea deal & testimony against Ziegler (and maybe others). There is nothing in this book that leads you to question his innocence either. However, that does not mean he portrays himself in a positive light.
For all his talk about wanting to take the high road and avoid making emotional statements, this book includes some truly ugly quotes about Scott Smith.
Was this case weaponized by cultural warriors? Almost certainly. His daughter was still sexually assaulted. Was he frustrating/annoying to deal with in public scenarios? I could imagine so! But, I have no idea how I would react if my daughter was sexually assaulted at school. I really don’t. And I could not believe the smugness with which Wayde wrote about the victim’s father.
The victim and her (convicted) assailant had a previously consensual encounter at school in weeks prior. Her father advised her not to mention this during initial interviews, instead encouraging her to focus on description of the pertinent events — a decidedly non-consensual encounter.
This was Wayde Byard’s take: “When Scott Smith screamed at school board meetings about what was being hidden, I wondered how he’d feel about making this public.”
Either he is implying A) the assault was a lie and this salacious fact would unravel the scheme or B) the assault was real, but it would be uniquely embarrassing for his daughter’s sexual activity to be public. Both are disgusting sentiments. I empathize with Wayde’s situation, pointlessly dealing with a felony trial. In my view, that doesn’t give you free license to tee off at a victim and her family.
Outside of that, this book could have probably used a tighter edit. On the culture wars themselves, I don’t think the book offers any insight Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow haven’t already offered (replete with references to blue-haired activists and right-wing dog whistles). Local readers receive a look at an LCPS folk hero and a bit more information about his trial, but it’s more a novelty than anything else.
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January 6, 2025How appropriate that I finished this book after we got the call for our first snow day of the year. I miss hearing your voice, Wayde!
As someone who lives and works in Loudoun, this was pretty interesting. He doesn't hold back and tells you exactly how he feels about people - for better or for worse. How absolutely crazy that the prosecution refused to say exactly what he was charged with for the longest time. I agree with his assessments on a lot of people (especially when he mentioned my favorite teacher from high school - and current principal - is "one of LCPS's best principals"), but certainly not everyone.
As someone who lives and works in Loudoun, this was pretty interesting. He doesn't hold back and tells you exactly how he feels about people - for better or for worse. How absolutely crazy that the prosecution refused to say exactly what he was charged with for the longest time. I agree with his assessments on a lot of people (especially when he mentioned my favorite teacher from high school - and current principal - is "one of LCPS's best principals"), but certainly not everyone.
December 19, 2024
Wayde (I mean, we're used to calling him Wayde around here) is a terrific storyteller. He balances his own story of being accused of perjury with the story of LCPS as a whole.
Fascinating to read his take on so many people and situations I was familiar with, and in some cases lived through. (And to recognize some people even though they weren't named...)
This was also a great read for our book club--we're all either LCPS teachers or parents of current/ former LCPS students OR BOTH.
I couldn't put this down and stayed up late to finish it.
Fascinating to read his take on so many people and situations I was familiar with, and in some cases lived through. (And to recognize some people even though they weren't named...)
This was also a great read for our book club--we're all either LCPS teachers or parents of current/ former LCPS students OR BOTH.
I couldn't put this down and stayed up late to finish it.
November 17, 2025
Great dive into local politics in Loudoun County. As a devotee of Wayde Byard and a former student of LCPS, it was very illuminating, and at times very personal seeing names I recognized and the things they did. Local politics has to deal with an information vacuum, particularly for members of my generation who maybe don't get information the same way that a lot of older folks do; markedly from the dying generation of local newspaper and local TV stations.
September 14, 2025
Thank you Wayde Byard for so thoroughly discrediting the political attack job done on you and the Loudoun County Public Schools by Virginia AG Jason Miyares and Governor Glenn Youngkin. It is truly despicable when politicians use attacks on innocents in service to their aspirations for power. It’s too bad that they have escaped responsibility for their uncivil arrogance.
November 3, 2024
This just confirmed a lot of what I already thought about the situation in Loudoun County while also providing some new insights and making me mad about the conservative political agenda in Loudoun all over again.
December 1, 2024
Read this for my book club which includes mostly LCPS teachers. At times painful to relive the mess of the pandemic and the hell that some people put the school board through, it was a very interesting account of how a few poor decisions can waste a LOT of people's time.
August 28, 2025
Well written. His candor added to the storytelling. That time in LCPS was quite the circus with some of the 8040 issues still present today. As a teacher, though, hearing Wayde’s voice with a snow closure first thing in the morning was simply the BeST.
December 31, 2024
Sure the truth is somewhere in the middle, but well written and I enjoyed it.
February 2, 2025
Good inside baseball.
July 24, 2025
home, sweet home
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews