Talawanda board members push back on 'personal attacks,' pass administrative raises

Members of the Talawanda School District Board of Education fought back against personal attacks and harassment they say has distracted from the district's mission to educate children during a July 9 meeting.

The board passed administrative raises, hired Kirsten Cannon of Lakota School District as the new principal for Bogan Elementary and fielded both personal and decision-based criticisms during the Tuesday night meeting which ended in a tornado warning.

Darrtown resident Scotty King, who is married to board member Dawn King, has filed consistent records requests for budgetary information and administrative emails in the past two years. In a previous interview with the Oxford Free Press, he said he started off looking for ways for the district to save money. Now, he also looks for emails where his wife is mentioned because he worries “false statements” are being made about her.

Scotty King has also publicly accused the board and administration of fiscal irresponsibility and other misconduct, and Dawn King made a motion at last month’s meeting to terminate superintendent Ed Theroux’s contract. The conflict has led to tensions at meetings, including during the July 9 meeting available on the district YouTube channel.

Bothast speaks against harassment

During public comment this week, Scotty King accused board member David Bothast of violating the First Amendment by blocking him on Facebook.

In a 2024 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public officials, including school board members, can block constituents and delete comments on personal social media accounts if they are not acting on behalf of the state.

“[Bothast] posts Talawanda School District information and board information on it,” King said, “so … [blocking me] is a violation.”

Toward the end of the meeting, Bothast spoke out against harassment he says he's faced since he first ran for his position in 2021.

"I had every intention tonight ... to come here and resign from the board," Bothast said, "because I am done. I am physically and emotionally done with the vitriol and the abuse that my family and myself has endured since the launch of my campaign."

Bothast said in the past three years he's endured vandalism, trespassing on his private property and "heinous" comments made about his children online, including pictures which the posters mistakenly identified as Bothast's kids. The harassment continues to this day, Bothast said.

Bothast did not directly name Scotty King but said a "community member" had accessed an email from Bothast to a Talawanda Middle School administrator. Bothast said he was reaching out as a private citizen with concerns about his son's wellbeing, but that email with private information about his family has since been used as attempted leverage against him.

"I've been told time and time again that this is gonna be used against me, 'I've got damning information about you,'" Bothast said. "For what purpose? To extort me for what reason? And what harm are you going to cause a 14-year-old boy? You're not going to harm me."

After Bothast's comments, Board President Rebecca Howard said personal attacks distract the board and Talawanda administrators from the job they are meant to be doing.

Board member Pat Meade thanked Bothast for not resigning and said he'd "only had hate propaganda stuck in [his] mailbox once." Meade also alluded to comments King made last week about Superintendent Ed Theroux, Bothast and Meade "colluding" to make decisions, but Meade said King would not provide proof of his accusations.

"Collusion involves secrecy and/or illegal things," Meade said. "So I ask him, if he wants to defame my character in public, he needs to be careful. I don't collude with Dr. Theroux or David ... or any of the other board members here. I collaborate with them."

Meade's comments were cut short when a tornado warning was issued in Oxford and the board hastily voted to adjourn. All official business of the meeting had been completed by that point.

Raises for administrators pass with 4-1 vote

After failing to vote on a resolution providing raises for the district's 24 administrators last month, the board passed the agreement at this month’s meeting  in a 4-1 vote, with Dawn King voting against it.

The resolution implements a contract addendum to provide a $2 per hour increase based on 40-hour work weeks in the 2025 fiscal year. In 2026 and 2027, the administrators will receive step increases from a pool of $50,000 per year. The contract does not include the treasurer or superintendent.

Dawn King said the 2025 increase will amount to roughly $112,000.

The first proposal for raises aimed to put Talawanda administrators at the median pay for K-12 administrative positions in Butler County. While the final agreement voted on July 9 doesn't give as much of a pay bump, it does push everyone closer to the goal.

"It will not get everybody to what we originally requested to move them to being the middle of Butler County, but it will move them up," Theroux said.

Because the first year's increase will be percentage based, the lowest paid administrators will see the smallest salary bump.

"Some of the individuals who were much lower in the half of Butler County are the ones now getting a smaller percentage increase based on their salary," King said before voting against the resolution. "I don't know how much it's righting it for them."

Board members defend superintendent and treasurer

At last month's meeting, Scotty King accused Theroux of using a fake Facebook account to harass people online regarding a 2022 levy. In a previous interview with the Free Press, King said his friend had traced the IP address of the account to within a mile radius of Theroux's home. According to whatismyip.com, an IP address "doesn't contain the information necessary to reveal your exact physical location" and can only show a general area.

King also accused Theroux and other administrators of violating FERPA protections by including student IEP information in response to a records request, which he brought up again during public comment at the July 9 meeting.

Howard said Treasurer Shaunna Tafelski took responsibility for the error at the time it happened and has worked to make sure similar information is not provided in the future. Howard said in an email to King that she did not believe a FERPA investigation was needed, while King called on parents to request one from the Federal Student Privacy Policy Office.

Tafelski also responded directly during the meeting. The district is working to put its financial information on to the Ohio Checkbook online, but Tafelski said the data the state government uses might include identifiable information for students.

"The state cannot give me to my satisfaction that that will not be part of their website," Tafelski said. "In light of discussions earlier by Mr. King, we are paying attention to this right now. Measures have been put into place so that it never happens again."

Later, Howard read a list of the district's accomplishments under Theroux, saying positive initiatives often go "unnoticed or unappreciated" by the public. Among those accomplishments, which Theroux led or was a part of, Howard said the district's graduation rate hit an all-time high last year, AP score averages have increased and mental health resources for students have expanded.

Bothast said the complaints lodged at Theroux date back to his hiring in 2018, when Theroux inherited the decision to change the school mascot from the "Braves" to the "Brave" and remove the caricature of a Native American man from the district.

"He walked into that," Bothast said. "He did the right thing based on the majority of the community. That's what democracy is about."

The board will meet again on Aug. 8 in Talawanda High School's Performing Art Center.