LISBON — A case alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act against the Wellsville school board remains pending after a judge ruled against the school board’s motion to dismiss the case based on written filings.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam did, however, grant judgment against the school board regarding meeting minutes not being detailed and minutes reflecting entry into executive session for “an unapproved purpose, without stating a proper purpose, or when no reason is given.”

For other claims by Mogadore resident Brian Ames, who filed the complaint, the judge denied ruling on them based strictly on the filings, saying the scheduling orders remain in effect.

A pretrial remains set for 1 p.m. Oct. 15, with a court trial set for 9 a.m. Oct. 29.

The decision comes after some of the cases filed against area school boards have been settled and dismissed.

Ames filed the complaints last year against the Crestview, East Liverpool, Columbiana, Wellsville, United Local and Leetonia school boards and Columbiana City Council, all alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act, just as he has against public governmental entities across the state of Ohio. For each lawsuit, Ames requests payment of $500 for each alleged violation.

A similar lawsuit filed against the Columbiana County Board of Elections in 2022 ended in 2023 with a $3,500 settlement.

Some of the allegations included improper executive sessions during public meetings and other violations related to public meetings, including related to meeting minutes or notification of meetings.

Cases settled so far included the ones against East Liverpool, Crestview, Columbiana and United school boards. Crestview was the first to settle, offering $1,000 to Ames, with the attorney for Ames filing a voluntary dismissal on Dec. 31. The amount of the settlement for United was $5,635 and Columbiana was $5,006. The amount for East Liverpool wasn’t available.

Cases against Leetonia school board and Columbiana City Council, along with Wellsville school board remain pending. Nothing’s scheduled in the Leetonia case, but a pretrial is set for 2:30 p.m. June 19 in the case against Columbiana City Council, with a court trial set for 8:30 a.m. July 9.

In the judgment entry stamped May 14 regarding Wellsville, Washam wrote that Ohio Revised Code requires that minutes of a non-executive meeting of a public body “must contain a more substantial treatment of the items discussed, and certainly should not be limited to a mere recounting of the body’s roll call votes.”