Parents of Lakota student accuse school board member of lying
By Karin Johnson
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LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WLWT) — Controversy is heating up again in the Lakota School District over a school board member who was asked to resign.
Parents in the district are now accusing Darbi Boddy of lying when she said she did not take photos of students when she violated policy and entered two schools unannounced.
WLWT exclusively obtained a copy of security footage that parents said proves Boddy lied.
The video shows Boddy walking down a hallway inside Lakota East High School carrying a phone in her hand.
At one point, she passes a student who was walking in the opposite direction.
Boddy turns toward the female student and it appears she takes a photo.
The student was 15 years old at the time.
Her mother spoke with WLWT but asked not to use her name for privacy reasons.
“She took a picture of my child and lied,” the mother said. “I have been personally destroyed by thinking, ‘What did she do with my photo? What did she do with my child? Why is she doing it? Why was she allowed in the school?'”
The incident took place in May.
“My safety in that school was compromised that day,” the student, who is now 16 years old, said.
Her mother said, “That could have been a gun just as easy as it was a phone.”
District leaders said Boddy ignored safety procedures when she entered both, Lakota East and Liberty Early Childhood School unannounced.
They even had police issue her a no trespassing order.
WLWT was at Boddy’s house seeking comment when it was delivered.
Boddy declined an interview that day but wrote on social media that the purpose of her visit was to “get an understanding of what was being taught in our schools.”
Through a public records request, WLWT obtained some of the photos she took, which include a civil rights timeline, artwork of rainbows, and children’s drawings that say “all are welcome.”
A photo of the teen was not included in our request.
Boddy also wrote on Facebook after the incident, “I was not photographing children.”
“There should be no photos of my child on her phone. She stated she didn’t take any photos of children, but clearly, that is not the case. she took a photo of my child,” the mother said.
In a statement released to WLWT, Lakota spokeswoman Betsy Fuller wrote:
“We immediately reviewed security footage after Mrs. Boddy left Lakota East on May 4. It appears that she only photographed one student during her unannounced visit to our schools. This is consistent with the photos she released to us in response to public records requests as well. We have worked directly with the family involved in this situation to help protect our student’s privacy.
“This entire situation is upsetting, and we certainly understand the stress our family has endured. A no trespassing order was issued to Mrs. Boddy the following day to help protect all of our students. This followed the Board’s vote to censure her and ask for her resignation in response to a separate incident the week before. This is the strongest action the Board can legally take against Mrs. Boddy.”
Fuller said the board has a policy in place regarding board members visiting our schools.
They are welcome at any time as long as they let an administrator know ahead of time so as not to disrupt learning.
This policy has not changed.
Fuller also said the district cannot speculate as to Boddy’s intentions regarding any of the photographs she took.
The student and her mother said their theory is Boddy didn’t approve of how the teenager was dressed.
She was wearing ripped jeans and cropped shirt.
“A normal teenage girl outfit,” the student said.
She said after learning her photo was taken, she felt violated.
“The fact that she took the pictures of me and I don’t know where they had went after that and then posted on social media that she had not taken photos of any students,” the student said.
Her mother said, “I want the better good for Lakota. I want my child to feel safe at school, and she will not return to Lakota. I made that very clear, as long as Darbi sits on the board, my child will not return to your district.”
Other board members asked for Boddy’s resignation in response to a different incident that happened before she entered the buildings unannounced.
Boddy had posted a link to pornography on her professional Facebook page. She said it was a mistake.
Since the district doesn’t have the power to remove an elected official, parents have started collecting signatures to have her removed.
Boddy responded to WLWT’s request for comment below.
“As you can see by the video you are presenting… at Lakota we record the activities of students in the hallways all day every day. I am an elected official and a member of the Board of Education, it is not only completely appropriate that I make inspections and document my findings it is the obligation of a school board member.” Boddy also added., “There was no policy violation.”
However, a statement released by the district on May 4 stated “This morning, Lakota Board Member Darbi Boddy blatantly disregarded board policy 9150 and its administrative guidelines, which requires all school board members give prior notice to a school’s principal before visiting any building.”
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