CENTERVILLE, Iowa — A district court judge has ruled that the Centerville Community School District must pay more than $113,000 following a lawsuit arguing the district violated Iowa’s Open Meetings and Records Law. According to KCCI-TV, the lawsuit was filed by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. In September, Appanoose County District Court Judge Mark Kruse ruled in the IFOIC’s favor, stating the district violated the law during a school board meeting on Feb. 3, 2023.

The district has now been ordered to pay $113,258.50 for the IFOIC’s attorneys’ fees and costs. Court documents detailing the judge’s ruling state the school board met on Feb. 3, 2023, to discuss a “Consideration of Employment Resignation Agreement” regarding Ryan Hodges.

Hodges is a former guidance counselor and baseball coach with the district. He was placed on administration leave during an internal investigation in December 2022.

During the Feb. 3 board meeting, court documents revealed the board voted unanimously to go into a closed session almost “immediately after” the meeting started. Those same documents report the closed session went on for about 30 minutes before the board switched back to open session, and unanimously approved a “resignation and release agreement” for Hodges.

The judge’s ruling states that when testifying, the district superintendent testified that “the reason for the closed meeting was to discuss the professional competency of Ryan Hodges.” The judge notes in his ruling that after reading the board minutes, it was “difficult to find any consistent, or meaningful, discussion evaluating the professional competency of Mr. Hodges.” The judge went on to write, “The discussion in general terms centered around the terms of the resignation agreement, avoidance of lawsuits, the leak of the Level 2 report, and how to handle the fallout from the resignation that was expected.”

The judge has ordered the board to unseal the recording and transcripts from the closed session of the meeting.