Lakota’s school board quickly turned down a motion that would ban transgender girls from participating in girls' sports Monday night.
Conservative member Darbi Boddy proposed the motion but wasn't there to discuss it, adding to the growing list of meetings she's missed recently.
Last year, her fellow board member Isaac Adi filed a protection order against her after he claimed she stalked and harassed him while the two served on the board. Boddy, who is currently fighting the order in court, has been barred from attending any meetings with Adi present, which has caused her to miss numerous meetings since November.
Instead, Boddy was in a Butler County court on Monday for a hearing related to an incident at Lakota's administrative office where she tried to attend a board committee meeting while Adi was present and was cited by sheriff deputies for violating the protection order. She hasn't been seen at a board meeting since.
Her long absence now puts her future on the board in jeopardy. According to Ohio law, if a board member misses meetings for 90 days, the other board members can have her removed by a two-thirds vote and replaced within 30 days.
Lakota's next regularly scheduled meeting is Feb. 26, more than 90 days since her last appearance.
Boddy appears to have no allies left on the board. Adi, a fellow conservative whom she campaigned with, now has a protection order against her. Others, like Board President Julie Shaffer and new member Douglas Horton, have both called Boddy's actions and language a “distraction” that prevents the board from working effectively. And Board Vice President Kelley Casper has had her fair share of heated exchanges with Boddy over divisive issues.
Additionally, before the protection order, Adi, Shaffer, Casper, and former president Lynda O'Connor all voted to censure Boddy and voted unanimously in favor of her resignation in April 2022 after she posted an inappropriate link on her campaign Facebook page. Boddy refused to resign.
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Though Boddy's anti-transgender motion was denied, a ban on transgender girls participating in girls' sports is still coming. After the Ohio House and Senate overrode Gov. Mike DeWine's veto of House Bill 68, such a ban — along with a ban on gender-affirming care for minors — will go into effect in April, regardless of what Lakota decides to do.
"It's not something that has to be by a motion. HB 68 is going to be a law," Adi said Monday night.
Earlier Monday, the ACLU of Ohio announced it would be filing a lawsuit challenging the bill, but specifically for the ban on gender-affirming care.
A spokesperson for Lakota says the district has no transgender students participating in sports.
Boddy's next appearance in court for violating the protection order is set for March 18.
