Nearly two months after the sudden resignation of a Little Miami board member over controversial social media posts, David Whiting was appointed by Warren County Probate Court Judge Joseph Kirby May 4 to fill the vacant seat.
Whiting, who ran in the Little Miami Local Schools November 2025 board race, will serve on the Cincinnati-area school board through December 31, 2027.
The judge was tasked with filling Dan Smith’s seat as the Warren County school board was unable to reach a majority vote by its 30-day deadline. In court records, Kirby said each applicant was interviewed and due to the “strength and number of outstanding applicants,” those who previously ran in board races were given “great weight.”
Of the 22 applicants, court records stated, only two of them ran for board seats in November: Whiting and Bobbie Grice. Whiting received far more letters of support than any other applicant, the court stated.
Smith came under fire in early March for comments he made under pro-Nazi posts on Threads denying the Holocaust and praising Hitler. In an interview with The Enquirer following his board resignation, Smith chalked up the posts to “bad wording” and asserted that he knew his account was public and he “wasn’t trying to hide something.”
The 74-year-old joined the board in January, winning one of two open seats and securing over 4,700 votes following an endorsement by right-leaning group Ohio Value Voters.
Whiting, a longtime district parent and former Little Miami business advisory councilmember, earned 3,987 votes in November. He was endorsed by Republicans when he ran for the board in 2023, but deliberately chose not to seek any party’s endorsement in 2025, stating via Facebook that families “deserve leaders who focus on what’s best for education − not politics.”
In a March board meeting, the district’s teachers union endorsed Whiting for the seat. The union’s president Wayne Lyke called Whiting the strongest candidate, outlining “his professional expertise and his personal investment in this community.”
Whiting’s arrival comes on the heels of a turbulent few weeks for the five-person board led by president David Wallace, recently accused of harassing Little Miami’s athletic director Matt Louis in a complaint filed within the district.
In a contentious February vote during a raucous meeting, the school board opted to remove a “Hate Has No Home Here” sign. Smith invoked Christian teachings in arguing against the poster, which featured a transgender pride flag, the American flag, and the LGBTQ+ pride flag.
Several Little Miami students spoke out against the poster’s removal during public comment at the March 25 meeting. George McIntyre, the teacher who displayed the flag, filed a federal lawsuit against the district on April 7, claiming his First Amendment rights were violated when he was ordered to remove the poster.
School board member resigns after antisemitic social media posts
The Buckeye Flame, an Ohio LGBTQ+ publication, made the initial report about Smith’s Threads posts, during which it said a reporter contacted him about the posts, prompting his resignation.
In one, a photo describes how Hitler had promised to make Germany great again. An account linked to Smith’s Instagram account replied, “And he did!!!” In another, someone posted a column arguing Israel should exist because of the Holocaust, to which the account replied, “What holocaust?”
“Some of those posts were wrong, inaccurate, and written without the care and thought that someone serving in public office should exercise,” Smith wrote in his resignation letter obtained by The Enquirer. “I regret the offense and concern they have caused.”
Accepting Smith’s resignation, the Little Miami school board said in a statement that his posts “raised serious concerns and do not reflect the standards expected of those serving in public office.”
Smith campaigned alongside current member Mandy Bullock, also endorsed by Ohio Value Voters. At the March 25 board meeting, district resident Josh Harris directed questions to Bullock during public comment, saying “Knowing what you know now, would you have made the same decision to run together?”
In response, Bullock confirmed that they ran together but she had “no idea that that was his feelings … I do not share those same feelings.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: After sudden resignation, judge appoints new Little Miami board member
Reporting by Grace Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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