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MCDONALD -- A Portage County man has filed a lawsuit against the McDonald Local School District's Board of Education, claiming that the board violated the state's Sunshine Laws with how it conducts its meetings.
The complaint by Brian Ames, filed Monday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, claims that the board conducted executive sessions for unapproved purposes in meetings between Jan. 27, 2025 and Feb. 18, 2026, and that the matter stated as the session's purpose was not specifically approved by Ohio Revised Code 121.22(G).
That particular portion of ORC 121.22, which sets what public officials are exempt from having to speak about in open meetings by law, establishes the matters executive sessions are allowed to happen on such as the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or official or purchasing a property for public purposes.
"The Board has violated and threatens to continue violating R.C.121.22 by holding executive sessions for matters not specifically excepted in R.C.121.22(G)," The lawsuit states. "All resolutions, rules, and formal actions adopted in an open meeting that result from deliberations in executive sessions held for a purpose not specifically authorized in R.C.121.22(G) are invalid by the operation of R.C.121.22(H)."
The lawsuit states the board failed to establish a rule for notification of meetings compliant with the "F" portion of 121.22, adding that the board's 2025 rule, established at its Jan. 8, 2025 meeting, was "silent" as to any method or manner of notifying the public of the meeting's time, place and purpose.
The lawsuit cites this for the board's 2026 rule, alleging that it violated 121.22 and threatens to continue doing so by failing to establish a rule for notification about meetings compliant with the law.
Those violations allegedly extended into special meetings, according to the lawsuit, which claims the board had special meetings between Jan. 27, 2025 to Dec. 10, 2025, but did not establish a rule for notification of meetings.
The suit claims that the board failed to keep full and accurate minutes by not including the discussions held in executive session in the executive session meetings conducted between Jan. 27, 2025 and Feb. 18, 2026.
Ames requests that the court issue statutory injunctions to prevent the board from entering executive session illegally and stop it from holding special meetings until it establishes a rule to notify the public of them.
Ames is also asking the board to pay $500 for each of the four counts, as well as the court and attorney fees throughout the process.
Ames has filed more than 160 lawsuits against public entities in the state, alleging that they failed to comply with open government laws.
In 2022, in cases against six Trumbull County governmental bodies, judges signed off on out-of-court agreements between Ames and the city of Hubbard as well as Fowler, Johnston, Champion, Kinsman and Vienna townships for similar violations.
McDonald Superintendent Gary Carkido could not be reached for comment.