A school district transparency lawsuit will go back to court January 27.
Judge William McKinnon ruled in York for Lexington District 1 on 4 out of 5 allegations in board member Jada Garris’s lawsuit.
Garris wants the district to repay more than $40,000 in her attorney’s fees.
The judge found Garris was right on the 5th charge about how board members went into a secret executive session in November 2017, a year before she was elected to the board.
The board met behind closed doors at the district office without announcing it in open session. By law, officials must vote in public before executive sessions.
McKinnon ruled this violated state sunshine laws which govern public access to governmental records.
Lexington 1 spokesperson Mary Beth Hill said district attorneys asked McKinnon to reconsider his ruling.
Garris’ attorneys want the judge to reconsider his ruling on the other issues.
Garris, a critic of Lexington 1 actions, accused the district of failing to post agendas 24 hours before meetings as required.
Garris also alleged that the board held its Dec. 6, 2016, meeting in an adjoining boardroom instead of in the auditorium, where the public notice and agenda said the meeting would be.
McKinnon found the Dec. 6, 2016, meeting to be “a technical violation of FoIA.”
The district said it was pleased that the court “overwhelmingly agreed with and ruled in the district’s favor.”
Garris’s attorney Taylor Smith said her lawsuit forced the district to supply records to several requests for information.
The district’s behavior shifted noticeably after litigation began, Garris said.
Agendas were more detailed, meetings were live streamed, public records requests were handled by 1 of the district’s attorneys, and the school board started meetings in public.