VA school district claims it didn't take students for abortions, puts whistleblower on leave

A Virginia school district accused of arranging secret abortions for students, including some that were potentially coerced, claims the allegations were all false. However, an alleged recording of one of the victim's guardians, captured by the whistleblower who has now been placed on leave, tells a different story.

Key Takeaways:

• Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) was accused of taking underage female students to get abortions in secret, in violation of Virginia's parental notification law.

• Social worker Carolina Diaz allegedly took two girls to get abortions, and principal Chad Lehman allegedly knew about them, even allowing school funds to pay for them.

• One girl said she didn't want to have an abortion, and begged to be able to keep her baby, only for Diaz to tell her she "had no choice." The girl fled the abortion facility and confided in a teacher about the coerced abortion.

• A new report released by FCPS claims the allegations are untrue.

• A recording of one of the alleged victim's guardian seems to tell a different story.

• FCPS has placed the whistleblower, Zenaida Perez, on administrative leave; Perez believes this is a retaliatory action.

The Backstory:

Though news just broke this year, Centreville High School is accused of facilitating abortions for students, in violation of Virginia law. Both girls were underage; the first student in question was 17 years old, and was a Second Language student. She said she underwent the abortion in November 2021, and that Diaz scheduled the abortion and paid for it.

The second student was allegedly five months pregnant, and begged Diaz to let her keep her baby. Diaz told her she "had no choice" but to have an abortion, but the girl escaped while at the abortion facility, and confided in teacher Zenaida Perez about the situation. “The girl never wanted that abortion, and her family was never told,” Perez said.

Perez said she notified school administrators, but that they tried to force her resignation and told her not to speak about it. Perez chose to become a whistleblower instead:

I had a meeting with Chad Lehman, Michael Parker [FCPS Senior Administrative Employment Specialist] about this pregnancy test situation. And Mr. Lehman told me, ‘Ms. Perez, a pregnancy test is nothing. But an abortion. Because I told him that Carolina Diaz facilitated an abortion for a student.

… In November 2021, when she turned 17 years old, she got pregnant. She went to see Carolina Diaz, and [Diaz] facilitated the appointment and all the logistics for an abortion. … And then I told Mr. Parker all that about it. And then I sent an email about the pregnancy cover-up to Mr. Lehman and the abortion and all that. And he didn’t do anything…. He said, ‘I don’t remember that conversation with you.’ And I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I have the email that I sent you on May 16th when we had the meeting here in your office. And I brought to your attention — the social worker provides pregnancy solutions. I mean, abortions.’

And then they didn’t do anything. He pretended he was working really hard, contacting the nurse and social worker. … The legal guardian knew nothing…. And I have all the evidence about that.

FCPS claimed there was no knowledge of the abortions until news broke in August, but a recording from Perez shows she had informed them in May of 2025.

Senator Bill Cassidy then demanded an investigation be opened into the scandal, and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin likewise ordered Virginia State Police to investigate, too.

Perez has now been placed on paid administrative leave. She stands by her story, and believes FCPS has taken this action in retaliation for going public with the information when school administrators did not take action. She told ABC7 News:

“Everything I said is true. I am strong and determined to bring the truth to light. I used to be terrified. In 2022 – 2023, I was looking for ways to bring this to light. I have exposed them seven times throughout these years, but now I'm fully determined to keep up fighting because the truth has to come out, and honesty and truthfulness will prevail.”

The Details:

FCPS has since released the initial results from their investigation into the issue, and claimed the allegations made by Perez were not true. According to the report:

• CHS social worker Carolina Diaz did not encourage, facilitate, or pay for any student abortion.

• Former CHS Principal Chad Lehman did not “cover up” any such allegations or related facts; he promptly investigated Mrs. Perez’s allegations in 2022 and determined that they lacked factual support.

• Mrs. Perez’s claim that Mr. Lehman “didn’t do anything” to investigate her allegations is false and inconsistent with her own contemporaneous written communications with Mr. Lehman.

• Because Principal Lehman’s 2022 investigation showed that Mrs. Perez’s factual allegations lacked factual support, there was no need for him to escalate the issue to FCPS senior Division leadership.

However, the WC Dispatch stated, "Instead of letting the State Police do their job, FCPS hired a K‑Street megafirm to smear the reporting and the whistleblower while running an outside counsel‑managed 'investigation.'" In an alleged recording of one of the girls' guardians, the man states (in Spanish) that he had no knowledge that the girl had been taken for an abortion (see transcript here):

Recording of Student B’s Legal Guardian
“She told me she had stomach pain and was bleeding. I said, ‘Let’s go to the hospital.’
When we got there, the doctors said there was nothing wrong.
So I asked, ‘What happened to the pregnancy? Where did it go? How?’
She said, ‘I don’t know what’s happening to me.’
That’s when I found out she wasn’t pregnant anymore.
The school never called me. The nurse never called me.
Nobody asked for my consent.”

Perez was accused of "withholding relevant materials" and having "knowingly procured a false statement." Students also allegedly denied Perez' claims, including one saying that she was not coerced into a late-term abortion.

“These allegations are indeed shocking,” the report said. “Yet, based on our fact-finding to date, it also appears they are very likely untrue and lacking in factual or evidentiary support.”

Americans United for Life (AUL) is currently representing Perez. In a statement to the Boston Globe, Steven H. Aden, chief legal officer and general counsel, said he believes the FCPS report is just trying to protect the school district, and that he believes the Senate investigation will have a different result.

“We vigorously contest any contention that Mrs. Perez fabricated evidence,” he said. In another statement to WTOP, he added that FCPS will "come to regret their decision to rush through this so-called ‘investigation.'"

The Bottom Line:

The best-case scenario is, of course, that there were no students taken for secret abortions, or coerced into them. But if Perez' allegations are, in fact, true, then everyone responsible needs to be held accountable.