LISBON — A case alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act against the Wellsville School Board remains pending, but with new dates set for a pretrial and trial.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam granted an unopposed motion of the school board to continue the pretrial and trial dates, vacating them.

New dates have been set for 1 p.m. Nov. 20 for the pretrial and 9 a.m. Dec. 17 for the trial.

In the spring, Washam ruled against the school board’s motion to dismiss the case, but granted 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.”

The judge denied ruling on other claims by Mogadore resident Brian Ames, who filed the complaint, with the case still pending.

Wellsville school board is the lone Columbiana County entity left with an active case filed by Ames, who has filed complaints statewide alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act. Settlements were apparently reached with the Crestview, East Liverpool, Columbiana, United Local and Leetonia school boards and Columbiana City Council for the complaints Ames filed against them for alleged Open Meetings Act violations.

According to Common Pleas Court records, the attorney representing Ames filed voluntary dismissals against Columbiana City Council on June 16, Leetonia school board on June 2, East Liverpool school board on March 12, Columbiana school board on March 24, United Local school board on March 25 and Crestview school board on Dec. 31, 2024. All of the cases were filed in 2024.

Ames requested payment of $500 for each alleged violation. The known settlement amounts, which were approved by the school boards in open meetings, included $1,000 for Crestview, $5,635 for United Local and $5,006 for Columbiana. Amounts for East Liverpool school board, Leetonia school board and Columbiana City Council weren’t available.

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