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On Monday, placed a teacher, who reported information about school staff allegedly arranging abortions for students, on paid administrative leave. The teacher’s leave is effective immediately, pending the conclusion of FCPS’s ongoing investigation focusing on concerns that she “may have engaged in serious professional misconduct.” RELATED | On Tuesday, Zenaida Perez told 7News that she believes FCPS is retaliating against her for going public with the abortion story, which has received national media attention. In a letter to Perez, the FCPS Director of Employee Relations wrote: “The specific conduct giving rise to this investigation, and the decision to place you on administrative leave, includes your apparent unauthorized disclosure of confidential FCPS information to third parties, including unauthorized disclosure of student-identifying information; your apparent actions in withholding relevant requested information during an official school investigation, and possibly also withholding relevant information subject to an external Freedom of Information Act request; your apparent actions in procuring falsified and/or manipulated statements for use in school-related matters; your apparent failure to respect professional boundaries with students and their families; your apparent actions in making serious accusations against other school personnel based on false, and potentially knowingly false, information; and your repeated failure to cooperate with reasonable requests made to you and/or your counsel by school administrators or by outside legal counsel acting on FCPS’s behalf.” 7News reached out to FCPS for comment on Tuesday morning, asking for the school district’s response to Perez’s claim that FCPS is retaliating against her. 7News will update this story when we receive a response from FCPS. Check back later today for a response from FCPS and more of the teacher’s reaction to being suspended and investigated by FCPS. Over the summer, many in Fairfax County’s Centreville High School community saw social media reports of the teacher’s claims that school staff arranged and bankrolled an abortion for a minor student and pressured another to get an abortion with the parents’ knowledge and consent. When 7News saw the viral claims on social media in August, 7News Reporter Nick Minock reached out to FCPS. The school system spokesperson replied and told Minock at the time, ”We learned yesterday of these concerning allegations from 2021. We are launching an immediate and comprehensive investigation as we take all concerns of student wellbeing very seriously.” Soon after, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin then to verify the allegations. "I am deeply concerned with the allegations that Fairfax County Public Schools officials arranged for minors to get abortions without parental consent and may have misused public funds to pay for them," Youngkin said. "I am directing the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation to open a full criminal investigation into the matter immediately." The U.S. Department of Education and a U.S. Senate Committee have also launched inquiries seeking information from the school system. On Friday, Fairfax County Superintendent Michelle Reid that FCPS’s own investigation is still ongoing, but “new details have emerged providing a clearer picture of what happened.” “Based on the interim findings, which are deeply concerning, these 2021 allegations are likely untrue. We have an obligation to protect our staff from wrongful and unjustified accusations,” Reid added. FCPS’s outside lawyers submitted a 61-page letter to the U.S. Senate Committee in response to U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy’s inquiry into the matter. In part, FCPS’s letter tells Cassidy that the Centreville High School principal’s investigation into 2022 allegations showed the teacher’s allegations “lacked factual support, so there was no need for him to escalate it to FCPS senior leadership.” Perez made the claims about a school social worker arranging and paying for an abortion for a minor student in 2021 and claimed the same social worker pressured another girl to get an abortion without the students’ parents’ knowledge. Perez told 7News she still stands by her claims. In its letter to Cassidy, FCPS also shifts the focus to a social media post by a parent that said the governor was alerted to the situation a year ago. On Friday, 7News emailed the Virginia Governor and the Attorney General and asked if they were made aware of the abortion allegations last year, and if so, why didn’t the governor and the attorney general look into the allegations further or order a VSP probe at that time? "OAG's Office of Civil Rights has no record of a complaint filed by Ms. Perez,” the Attorney General’s Office told 7News in response. “The VSP criminal investigation remains ongoing,” Youngkin’s office told 7News on Friday. “The Governor learned of the allegations in August 2025 when they became public and immediately initiated this investigation.” On Friday, FCPS sent 7News the following statement: "At no time would this alleged conduct by school personnel be acceptable in Fairfax County Public Schools. As addressed in the recent responses submitted by our external counsel to the Senate HELP Committee and the U.S. Department of Education, new details have emerged that provide a clearer picture of what happened. Based on the interim findings of our investigation, which are deeply concerning, it appears these 2021 allegations are likely untrue. Our top priority — now and always — is making sure that each and every student in FCPS can learn in a safe, healthy, and supportive environment. We also have a duty to protect our staff from wrongful and unjustified accusations. FCPS continues to fully cooperate with all government inquiries and investigations regarding these allegations. At this time, we have no further comment."
