Parents, educators raise concerns about district attorney's role on political panel

GROVE CITY, Ohio (WCMH) -- Parents and teachers have "real ethical concerns" about political promotions that list South Western City School's attorney as a panelist for a conservative education event.

Attorney Omar Tarazi will speak alongside five other panelists at a Future of Education in Ohio event featuring gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as the keynote speaker. South Western City Schools is not affiliated with the event, which will take place on Wednesday in Hilliard, but promotional materials identify him as an attorney for the district.

“I think it's a problem," parent Megan Luhrman said. "The district and the school board is supposed to be nonpartisan, and he is the attorney for the school board, yet he's speaking on a very political, partisan panel.”

Lurhman is a "tried and true Republican" and an attorney herself. She said in his role as a lawyer, Tarazi is not a representative of the district and she thinks presenting as one is "misleading."

A district spokesperson said event organizers did not contact South Western City School for approval to use the district's name or likeness. According to Tarazi's contract, he is not a district employee. The spokesperson said the event is entirely separate from the district and that Tarazi's contract does not allow him to act as an official representative of the district.

The South-Western Education Association said it is concerned about the perception of the panel. Spokesperson Emmalee Harding said public education is nonpartisan, and the union hopes Tarazi's panel appearance does not reflect the district's position.

"The South-Western Education Association is concerned about any representation of our school district as endorsing or supporting any political candidate, let alone a candidate who supports plans to dismantle public education and hurt the students we serve," Harding said.

Parents and the South-Western Education Association have voiced discontent with Tarazi’s employment for more than a year now. Before Tarazi was hired at $9,000 per month to attend board meetings and assist the school board, he was billing $20,000 a month in undisclosed services. NBC4 has the billing statements for those charges, but all services are redacted due to attorney-client privilege. See previous coverage in the video player above.

Lurhman said she found the complete redaction of Tarazi's services lacks transparency and is unnecessary. She said attorney-client privilege would still be protected if billing statements gave general descriptions without identifying details, using the example "phone call about employment matter, 15 minutes."

Luhrman said beyond politics, she’s concerned that he is speaking on a panel about public education without a background in education law. Tarazi told NBC4 in 2024 that his lack of educational law experience is not as big a deal as parents have said, as a school district has "every kind of legal issue."

“As a parent, I'm very concerned because we're talking about someone who has zero educational law background, someone who's not tied into the modern trends, is not part of the community of education lawyers making recommendations to a board that is shaping my son's future,” Luhrman said.

Lurhman practices real estate and corporate law, but said unlike Tarazi, she is a part of the Ohio Bar Association’s Education Law Committee because it’s an issue that affects her and her family. Lurhman said as of Thursday, Tarazi was still not listed as a committee member.

The panel, titled The Future of Education in Ohio, also features state Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) and state Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville). Tarazi's involvement with the panel comes just months after families and teachers voiced concerns about conservative advisory groups that the board of education joined.

The board and district said they joined four groups to get different perspectives, but community members took issue with two groups that ask members to sign pledges aligning with conservative educational policies, including statements denouncing DEI and “gender confusion.” Upon joining, dozens of parents and students spoke with NBC4, some of whom said they would leave the school district over the decision.

Although she differs politically from many parents who have voiced concerns to NBC4, Luhrman said her political affiliation also raises issues about Tarazi.

“As conservatives, we are traditionally fiscally conservative,” Luhrman said. “Protecting the taxpayer dollars is what we're all about, but we're spending more money than I make in a month on someone who has no educational law background.”

Panel organizers did not respond to requests for comment about Tarazi's involvement with the panel. Tarazi and his fellow panelists will take the stage at the Makoy Center in Hilliard Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m.