Emergency Board of Education Meeting Held Today

The Lakota Local Schools Board of Education called for an emergency meeting this afternoon to ask for a resolution to censure Board Member Darbi Boddy and also request her resignation. The resolution to censure passed 4-1. The motion to request Boddy’s resignation passed 4-0, with Boddy leaving the meeting before the vote took place.

The meeting was called in response to content posted by Boddy from her official “Boddy for Lakota” Facebook page last night. The original post, which has since been updated, included a link that directed to website containing inappropriate sexual content.

”To post pornographic content on an official, public-facing school board member account that can be accessed by many of our own students is absolutely unacceptable,” said Board President Lynda O’Connor. “Furthermore, to make a public accusation that our curriculum contains such pornographic material is deplorable.”

In a separate post today, Boddy responded, saying, “One of the pornographic sites that was put in my communication was a typo and although it was not meant to be part of my communication it is still representative of the disgusting material that is being put in front of our children.” 

In the public statement issued by O’Connor, as board president, to address Boddy and the community at-large, O’Connor said the material will not be tolerated and stated that board members are responsible for the materials they post online. 

“You exposed our community, including potentially children, to inappropriate sexual content,” O’Connor said. “By trying to raise awareness about what to keep out of our schools, your manner of communication has placed it directly into our school community. Your conduct was fundamentally wrong and we expect you to take responsibility.” 

As O’Connor shared, the post also claimed that the district is making decisions about a future curriculum audit without public discussion because it was not on the April 25, 2022 work session agenda. 

O’Connor refuted this claim, saying, “To be clear, the purpose of the work session was to discuss the upcoming five-year forecast and was communicated as such to all board members in advance,” O’Connor said. “Mrs. Boddy’s Facebook post refers to ‘behind the scenes activities,’ accusing the district of a lack of transparency by making decisions about the audit without public discussion.”

O’Connor continued on to explain that Superintendent Matthew Miller had, in fact, requested that the Board submit thoughts about the audit by April 22, but that the purpose of the April 25 work session was never to discuss that audit. “Frankly, to discuss an audit three days later, while the curriculum department is still reviewing the secondary math and ELA audit, would have been premature,” O’Connor said.

“As a member of the Lakota Board of Education, while content can represent an individual’s personal views, it is expected that content posted about our district be factually accurate,” O’Connor said. “The information presented in Mrs. Boddy’s post to infer a lack of transparency was misrepresentative and untrue.” 

While the Board has passed the motion to request Boddy’s resignation, it is up to her whether or not she resigns. The Board does not have the authority to force a member to resign. The steps taken at this afternoon’s emergency meeting are the strongest actions the Board can legally take in response to this situation. To be clear, this type of activity does not reflect the values and mission of Lakota Local Schools.  

The Board and the administration are committed to the integrity and standards that make Lakota the great community it is.