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The Loudoun County Public Schools’ Department of Communications and Community Engagement has taken steps to address misinformation and disinformation within the community. This issue has been a community concern for some time but was recently addressed in a presentation to the School Board through a Communications Audit by the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA).

In a recent association report, NSPRA Executive Director Barbara Hunter said, “Today’s landscape is unprecedented, with false information impacting school districts to an alarming degree. Through member surveys, insights shared at conferences and webinars, and nationwide research in dozens of school districts, NSPRA has uncovered a pervasive challenge: the spread of false information is a significant and costly issue affecting us all.”

Nearly all NSPRA members (96 percent) consider the spread of false information a problem for school districts, up from 81 percent since NSPRA’s last survey on the topic in 2020. That said, this is not just a school issue. A 2023 Gallup poll found that only 36 percent of Americans believe news organizations generally get the facts straight. This is down from about half of the country who felt that way in 1998.  Even more disturbingly, a 2016 Gallup poll found that a solid majority of the country believes major news organizations routinely produce false information.

This decline in public trust in the media is dangerous for public entities like LCPS. With the persistent scrutiny LCPS finds itself under, there are questions concerning the quality of the information available to the general public from the media and the impact it has on the school division’s efforts to rebuild trust and disseminate factual, up-to-date information. It is clear that LCPS must take steps to promote accurate, timely, and relevant information in the face of false news and disinformation. Taken together, these steps will further trust with our LCPS community and hopefully weaken the environment that has propelled disinformation around our community.

LCPS will notify students, families, staff and the community when misinformation or disinformation is occurring regarding the school division. Those seeking the correct information are encouraged and will be directed to access fact sheets on Just the Facts, this section of the Department of Communications and Community Engagement webpage that contains accurate details and FAQs about LCPS policies, actions and initiatives. Notifications will come through various channels, including social media, email and newsletters.

LCPS will maintain this webpage called Correcting Misinformation and Disinformation, where visitors can access accurate information about LCPS that has been misrepresented in the community and/or media. Anyone questioning what they are hearing or reading about LCPS is encouraged to examine these web pages to ensure they are receiving the correct information.