Darbi Boddy, the controversial anti-"woke" crusader who's drawn national attention during her time on the Lakota School Board, has officially been booted from her seat.
Lakota parents and community members have been campaigning to remove Boddy from her seat since July 2022, mostly on the basis of her anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-diversity and inclusion stances. Board members have censured Boddy before, asking her to step down for accidentally posting a link to a porn website on her official Facebook page while speaking out against sex education and critical race theory.
But it wasn't until Boddy created a legal barrier between herself and the board that her expulsion was possible.
Divisions on the board
Repeated spats with fellow board members created a sharp divide on the Lakota School Board, even resulting in a former superintendent to leave the district. But tensions grew as Boddy began verbally attacking and harassing fellow board member Isaac Adi between April and November of last year.
In April 2023, Adi and Boddy attended a conservative leadership conference in Florida, during which Boddy confronted Adi in front of hundreds of attendees by reading prepared statements where she claims Adi is not conservative enough, according to court documents. Boddy also posted a video to Facebook on June 22 where she is recording Adi as she follows him out of a board meeting, confronting him for allegedly telling Boddy her “brain is empty.” Adi can be seen pushing Boddy's phone away, prompting Boddy to tell Adi, “You just assaulted me.” Boddy filed an assault report with Butler County Sheriff’s Office, who ultimately determined the incident was not an assault, closing the investigation.
Adi filed for a civil protection stalking order against Boddy in September 2023, testifying that he was hospitalized for three days due to the stress of Boddy's ongoing harassment. The order, which took effect on Sept. 20, barred Boddy from going to Adi's home and place of employment, including Lakota School Board meetings, for two years.
After an appeal was filed by Boddy's lawyer, a judge granted Boddy a temporary exception to attend board meetings with Adi, with the condition that she could not communicate with him "unless necessary." She was also required to wait until five minutes after Adi leaves before exiting meetings. But once the appeals court rejected her appeal, the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office determined that temporary exception was no longer valid.
As a result, Boddy was met with detectives upon trying to enter a Nov. 17 committee meeting and was issued a citation by a Butler County prosecutor, a misdemeanor offense that can result in a $1,000 fine and jail time. It was the last time Boddy attended a meeting in person.
Voting Boddy out
While board rules made it difficult to expel Boddy based on her behavior, state law allowed the board to pass a resolution declaring her seat open after she failed to come to board meetings for more than 90 days straight.
Boddy was not present for the Wednesday meeting to vote on the resolution. Adi abstained from the vote. The resolution passed 3-0.
“Tonight, the Lakota Board of Education announces a vacancy in the seat held by Darbi Boddy. The vacancy stems from Mrs. Boddy's inability to attend Board meetings due to her actions that resulted in a Civil Stalking Protective Order (CSPO) issued against her," board president Julie Shaffer said following the vote.
Boddy told CityBeat that the resolution was "corrupt."
The board will begin the process of filling Boddy's seat in April.
Read the full story here:
"Not a day goes by when I'm not thanked by someone who lets me know that my presence has had a positive effect on the future of Lakota," Boddy told CityBeat. "This has always been a First Amendment issue. This corrupt process has quashed not just my voice but the voice of those who voted for me, and for that reason, I do not think it will wear well."
Boddy, an outspoken defender of the Moms for Liberty organization, compared her ouster from the board to the legal challenges facing former President Donald Trump.
"It's pathetic and sad, and this is the same type of thing they are trying to do to Trump," Boddy told CityBeat. "I have honestly not met a single person who believes that Isaac needs to be protected from me, even those who like the outcome, know that it was a corrupt process that removed me."
Boddy, an outspoken defender of the Moms for Liberty organization, compared her ouster from the board to the legal challenges facing former President Donald Trump.
"It's pathetic and sad, and this is the same type of thing they are trying to do to Trump," Boddy told CityBeat. "I have honestly not met a single person who believes that Isaac needs to be protected from me, even those who like the outcome, know that it was a corrupt process that removed me."
The board will begin the process of filling Boddy's seat in April.
Background on Boddy
CityBeat took a deep-dive into Boddy's impact on the Lakota School Board in August, speaking with parents and fellow board members with deep concerns about Boddy's highly politicized agenda.Read the full story here:
