Lori Sebastian for Bethel School Board
Status of 2022 Cases Filed in Common Pleas Court
Case 1: Ohio Open Meeting Act alleged procedural deficiencies filed by Bronwyn Croley in Miami County Common Pleas Court on July 21, 2022.
On October 10, 2023 the lawsuit Bronwyn Croley filed against the Board of Education and current and former members, was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice. The lawsuit was subsequently refiled on October 11, 2023.
Case 2: Quasi-penal removal action was filed in Miami County Common Pleas Court on November 4, 2022.
This action targeted the three Board Members, Lori Sebastian, then President of the Board Lydda Mansfield, and current Vice President Danny Elam, who publicly voiced their commitment to uphold their oath of office, meaning they supported the administration’s granting of the request for accommodation under Title IX by a transgender student to access communal restrooms aligning with sex. Judge Newman’s decision proves Lori, Lydda and Danny upheld their oath to enforce the rights bestowed upon students under the United States Constitution.
A motion to dismiss was immediately filed challenging this quasi-penal action seeking to divest the voters of their chosen elected officials. Those filing the action agreed to postpone the hearing until after Judge Pratt ruled on the motion to dismiss.
Miami County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeannine Pratt dismissed the case on August 4, 2023.
One board member candidate and one recent past board member signed the removal petition.
Did they read the petition? If an individual did not read the petition, how is that individual going to serve, if elected, when there are hundreds of pages of material to process for board meetings?
If they did read the petition, how are the Board Members breaching their oath of office? Lori was accused of attempting to modify a Board Member Job Description and improperly extending the authority of the Board President. Here is the YouTube video of deliberations from that meeting. Lori sat silently throughout the deliberation and did not vote for the job description as initially proposed.
Studies show that false information is 6 more times likely to get shared on social media than factual information. Do you find it acceptable for people to make false or misleading statements about board members? People have asked Lori if she has considered suing for defamation of character. While filing suit is not in Lori’s nature, members of our community should recognize it will become increasingly difficult to find competent board members motivated to serve, motivated to uphold the oath of office and motivated to serve students for right reasons when defamatory statements are published about them.