Young is seeking immediate access to public records through one lawsuit, which alleges the district did not comply with Ohio public records laws after providing redacted invoice records for the district’s law firm, Enis, Roberts & Fisher. In the other lawsuit, Young alleges the board violated the state’s Open Meetings Act on Jan. 17. The legal action seeks, in part, to invalidate the proposed levy that will appear on the May 3 ballot.
In a written statement, Board President Esther Larson responded on behalf of the board to the second lawsuit by saying allegations of an illegal meeting are without merit and are not factual.
“This is just more of what we have come to expect from a few people who seem to want to force their own agenda on the rest of the community. Instead of facts, they resort to false accusations aimed at creating distrust in the community,” the board’s statement reads.
Young and other parents of Lebanon High School students previously challenged the school board and administration, alleging the girls varsity volleyball coach was abusive to his players.
District officials concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated and subsequently rehired the coach.
Young said the district is withholding records that she and the public have a right to view. In addition, Young said she attended the Jan. 17 special meeting in which the board was presented with the community survey, commissioned by the district to gauge the community’s support of a new tax.
She said after the presentation she was asked to leave by Superintendent Mark North in order for the board to enter into an executive session to discuss “timelines.” Young said no one else was asked to leave the meeting, and no vote was held in her presence.
According to minutes of the Jan. 17 meeting, which the board approved on Monday, the board followed proper procedures and the executive session was held for the purpose of discussing negotiations with public employees.
In addition to the board, North and Treasurer Eric Sotzing, in attendance were three principals, union representatives and Marla Bell, labor consultant with the Ohio Education Association, according to district records. North said the executive session was not planned, which is “not common but it does happen.”
The closed session was called for, he said, because: “I felt with negotiations coming up, we had information from the survey that spoke to the community’s input about salaries and benefits.”
He said the union representatives were also asked to leave and did not sit in on the closed session. North said the district’s attorneys would file a motion by Wednesday to dismiss the lawsuit regarding the Jan. 17 meeting. He said he is not aware and has not been notified of the other lawsuit.
School boards are not required to notify the public of an executive session and can enter such a closed session at any regular or special meeting, according to Hollie Reedy, chief legal counsel of the Ohio School Boards Association. Reedy said even if the court decides the board conducted an illegal meeting, that decision is not likely to invalidate the levy because the board voted on that issue at a different meeting.
Young’s attorney Chris Finney disagrees.
He said the “illegal meeting” was clearly held for the purpose of discussing a proposed levy and the board subsequently acted according to that discussion.
“If a vote arises from an illegal, secret meeting, it invalidates that action,” he said.
Finney and Hartman have been filing dozens of lawsuits in an effort to force local governments to be more transparent.
Last month, the pair won cases against the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners regarding four closed meetings held in 2009 and against the city of Cincinnati, regarding public use of a stairwell at city hall.
Court documents of the lawsuits complaints are available for download at www.lebanonschoolfacts.com, a website created and maintained by district parents.
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