A hearing took place at the Nelson County Judicial Center Friday on a lawsuit filed against the Nelson County Board of Education.
The civil lawsuit stems from the controversy surrounding potential mergers of the district’s middle and high schools.
It alleges the school board scrapped the district’s original district facility plan to consolidate its middle and high schools, instead creating a new plan to merge Nelson County and Thomas Nelson High Schools.
Arguments at the hearing centered around a motion to disclose texts and emails between board members.
The judge ordered both sides to agree on a protective order to prevent those messages from being leaked to the public.
The hearing also considered allegations that the board conspired to remove the superintendent.
At a meeting in January, board member Tracy Bowling accused board member Amanda Deaton of approaching an attorney on her own about buying Superintendent Wes Bradley out of his contract.
The lawsuit mentions this, alleging attorney Jake Thompson with the firm Crawford & Baxter, P.S.C in Carrollton, Kentucky sent an email to the superintendent inquiring about a buyout in April of last year.
The lawsuit alleges this was a violation of Kentucky’s Open Meetings Act because board members can only take action on behalf of the district when the board gathers as a corporate body.
Thompson was also appointed as interim attorney after the board’s previous attorney resigned over ethics concerns.
The board ultimately took no action to dismiss Bradley. As the lawsuit continues to play out, parents say not knowing the future of the district is frustrating.
Both parties were ordered to schedule mediation no later than May 3. There will be a status conference on March 15.
Source: WAVE
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