WHITEHALL, Ohio — The Whitehall City School District Board of Education is facing a lawsuit claiming the board violated Ohio's Open Meetings Act.
The lawsuit alleges the school board did not properly notify the public of special meetings and did not properly take meeting minutes. The suit was filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on Wednesday by Open Government Advocates, a nonprofit organization that advocates for transparency in government.
"It's asking the court to enjoin the school district from further violations of the Open Meetings Act, holding special meetings without properly noticing them to the public, taking official actions in such meetings and to require the board to take proper meeting minutes in the future," Attorney Matt Miller-Novak with Open Government Advocates said.
The lawsuit comes a week after Whitehall school employees expressed frustration over the board's 3-2 vote on Dec. 14 to reject Superintendent Dr. Sharee Wells' contract renewal. Employees said they had no notice this decision would be made.
Miller-Novak said the lawsuit is not in response to that, but rather a pattern over the last two years. The suit alleges the board did not provide the public with notice for nine special meetings in 2022 and 10 meetings in 2023 and did not take adequate meeting minutes.
"Just a lot of meetings, special meetings, that just don't appear to be noticed on the calendar, the district's calendar," Miller-Novak said.
Citing attorney-client privilege, Miller-Novak would not disclose what or who specifically prompted the lawsuit.
"The organization itself came into information about the school board's non-compliance and investigated further and brought the action," Miller-Novak said.
He says the ultimate goal of any lawsuit like this is government transparency.
"If people in the community are not feeling that they are aware of things happening, especially such important things, that's the harm, right? By not complying with the Open Meetings Act," Miller-Novak said.
Miller-Novak said the Whitehall school board has 28 days to respond once it is served with the lawsuit.
10TV reached out to Whitehall City Schools for comment on the lawsuit but has not heard back.