Talawanda BOE appoints district parent, training specialist to fill vacancy

Molly Farler was appointed to the Talawanda School District Board of Education during a special session on Oct. 13 to fill a vacancy left by former member Matt Wyatt, who resigned last month.

Wyatt was originally appointed on Sept. 30, 2024, to fill a vacancy left by former board member David Bothast, who resigned on Sept. 9, 2024. Wyatt ran to keep his seat in the November 2025 general election, but announced his resignation during a meeting on Sept. 17, citing plans to move to Hamilton.

Farler will not serve the remainder of Wyatt’s term, but will instead fill the position until Dec. 31, 2027, or after the next general election in November 2027, when she will need to run again if she wants to keep her seat.

Farler was sworn in during the Oct. 13 meeting immediately after her appointment, and she will serve in her first meeting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 15 in the Talawanda High School auditorium.

Although Farler said she has never worked for a school system, both her grandparents were educators who emphasized “the importance of education and the importance of public schools.”

“I want to kind of continue that legacy of supporting our schools and making them successful,” Farler said.

As a board member, Farler said she wants to be a part of helping to continue the district’s “forward momentum” in its state report card scores, especially in improving early childhood literacy.

Farler said she’s qualified for the position based on her job as a training specialist and her experience with the district’s parent-teacher group (PTG).

“I do understand teaching people, and I have been involved in the schools, and I know people in the schools,” Farler said. “I know the people here and want to work with them and help them. That's my goal, is to help them be successful so that our students are successful.” 

Farler’s children attended Talawanda Schools, where she served on the PTG for nearly nine years and was the treasurer for seven, assisting with school activities, helping in the classrooms and with teachers when time allowed.

“I’m excited, and I’m looking forward to it,” Farler said of accepting the position on the board. “I’m looking forward to contributing to our schools in a meaningful way and being as helpful as I can.”

During the special meeting, the board came back from an executive session where they reviewed applications and voted on two candidates who were nominated by board members. According to Howard, the board received a total of six applications for the position.

Scott Walter, assistant vice president for student affairs at Miami University, was nominated by Board Member Dawn King. Walter received votes from King and Board President Rebecca Howard.

Board Member Chris Otto nominated Farler, who received votes from Board Vice President Pat Meade, Howard and Otto.

King, who voted in opposition to Farler, pointed to a previous email from Howard stating the past precedent for the district was to appoint someone who has either previously served on the board or has served in a position adjacent to the board when a member has been unable to finish their term.

“Choosing someone with that experience would have been the responsible and good faith decision to make,” King said. “By contrast, if we appoint a candidate who is not qualified, but simply friends with some of us, we open ourselves up to some serious problems.”

King suggested that if the board were to be sued over the appointment, the decision to appoint an “unqualified friend” could create a liability.

Howard said, although she did send the aforementioned email, appointing someone who has previously served on the board or in an adjacent position to fill a vacancy is “not an absolute practice.”

Meade said although Walter would’ve been a “fine choice,” he chose Farler over the others because “at the meetings for the past number of years, when I look up, there she is.”

“She's the only person on that list that … month after month, when I looked up, she was there, having an interest in the work of the board, even though she wasn't a board member,” Meade said. “She's very qualified to do this job. … She's not particularly a friend of mine. I don't think (I) have ever once in my life socialized with Mrs. Farler.

“She very much understands the role of a board member and how she should properly execute that role, and I think because of things that have happened to her in life, she would especially understand confidentiality and student rights being protected.”

During a cybersecurity investigation by the Talawanda School District in 2025, it was discovered that King’s Talawanda account had been used to access Google calendars and files without authorization beginning in December 2024. 

The board member’s husband, Scotty King, raised a concern during a regular board meeting on Dec. 19, 2024, which he claimed came from a parent who had discovered that anyone with a Talawanda account could access most staff calendars and attachments that include sensitive student information. 

Within minutes of King’s statement, according to previous reporting by the Oxford Free Press, a Facebook account under the name “John Adams” posted screenshots of calendar events and a draft student IEP document with everything except the parent’s name, Molly Farler, blurred out.

King later denied using her account to expose student data in a statement to the Oxford Free Press, claiming the breach occurred due to “poor administrative safeguards.” In March 2025, Meade called on King to resign over the issue, which she refused. King was later voted to be censured by the rest of the board members in April 2025.

Farler told the Oxford Free Press in an email, “Having my child’s IEP published online in an effort to target me was a very difficult experience for my family.”

“Still, I care about the integrity and success of this school board, and I’m committed to serving the best interests of our entire district: our students, our staff, and our community,” Farler said. “That means working cooperatively with every board member.”

Wyatt said following the Oct. 13 meeting to appoint Farler to the board that he thought she was a “great choice” to fill his seat, adding she’s attended most of the board’s meetings and is active in the schools and community.

“The fact that she's willing, after that episode with the Google Calendar situation … to step forward … I think that speaks a lot,” Wyatt said.

“I think that it speaks a lot to her character and her willingness to make the district better,” Wyatt said. “I don't think I can ask for somebody that can take it more serious than she's going to take it.”