A lawsuit against the Huntsville School District has been amended to add more allegations of Freedom of Information Act violations.

The lawsuit, filed in Madison County Circuit Court, alleges the School District violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act by not informing the media about meetings of the School Board to consider disciplinary action in a sexual harassment case. The attorney who filed the lawsuit, Joey McCutchen, also said the district failed to record and preserve the public portion of School Board meetings, as required by law.

"A lawyer for the School District, Charles Harwell, said in a response that school officials erred by not informing the media of the May 3 meetings. Because the meetings concerned disciplinary matters, 'the defendants were mistaken in believing that no notice was required,' he wrote in the filing.

"Media wouldn't have been able to attend the disciplinary hearings because they were held in executive sessions, according to Harwell.

"Disciplinary matters can be discussed in executive session, but no decision made in executive session is legal unless the public body reconvenes and votes in public, according to state law.

"The School Board reconvened after the executive sessions and voted in public, wrote Harwell."

Kentucky law is clear that all public meetings must be noticed even if the only agenda item will be discussed in closed session. The agency must convene in open session, observe the requirements for conducting a closed session, retire to closed session, and return to open session to take final action.