The Talawanda School District Board of Education (TSB) met on the evening of June 20 and discussed the status and salaries of district administrators. One motion was from its newest member, Dawn King, who was elected in the November 2023 election.
Dawn King requested that Superintendent Ed Theroux’s contract be terminated for “insubordination.” The motion failed to receive secondary support and did not move forward with discussion or vote. King did not disclose the reason behind her request.
Dawn King’s husband, Scotty King, participated in public comment to address this same topic. In his remarks, Scotty King described Theroux as “incompetent” and claimed that he had violated students’ FERPA rights.
After requesting the previous four years of district ledgers from Theroux and Treasurer Shaunna Tafelski, Scotty King claimed he received “unredacted” information revealing students’ personal information, including details of Individualized Education Plans. According to school district policy, student records are publicly accessible upon request, as certain information is considered part of the directory.
“As someone with this level of responsibility, you should have and be able to handle pressure and not violate the rights of Talawanda students,” Scotty King said.
Scotty King also accused Theroux of owning a Facebook account under a fake name and “troll[ing]” other members during school board elections and a levy ballot initiative. According to Scotty King, the IP address of the profile leads him to believe that Theroux is the account owner.
Scotty King did not offer evidence during his three-minute remark and closed his comments indicating he would return to future meetings.
“I have much more to say,” Scotty King said, “and the district needs to hear it.”
Ivan Carver, a community member and previous school board candidate, also provided public comment. In its May meeting, TSB approved the current one-tier busing model for the following school year using information from a district-wide survey sent out in the previous month.
Despite the district’s survey, Carver created and distributed his own survey, which received more than 800 responses. Carver did not require respondents to disclose identifying information.
“I wanted to hear the true voice of our community,” Carver said.
Of those responses, Carver vetted 628 to analyze, a third of which indicated that the current one-tier busing system was not providing adequate services to families. With these results, Carver asked the board to reconsider the busing model with an additional vote.
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He also mentioned the potential administration salary increases in his comments.
“If you truly are a new, fiscally conservative board, then I expect a no-vote tonight on those admin raises,” Carver said.
When the item was brought up for motion by school board President Rebecca Howard, it did not receive secondary support. The salary plan can be revisited at future meetings for discussion and vote. School board member Pat Meade said he did not feel ready for the vote tonight.
“I for one was not quite there on the wide package that we’re voting on,” Meade said. “I am very much in support of right-sizing things and taking steps to develop a system where we can track and keep people. I know that’s a great disappointment to those of you who showed up tonight waiting for that vote, but I want to make sure we get this right.”
The next school board meeting will be on July 9 at 7 p.m. in the Talawanda High School auditorium. A link to a live stream option can be found here.
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