The Jordan-Elbridge school board violated the state's Opening Meetings Law three times by going into executive session. That's the ruling from a state appeals court.

The state Supreme Court Appellate Division upheld a ruling made last year by Supreme Court Justice Donald Greenwood.

"The purpose of the Open Meetings Law is to prevent public bodies from debating and deciding in private matters that they are required to debate and decide in public," the ruling states.

The trouble began in the fall of 2010 when the J-E school board went into executive session several times. Former high school principal David Zehner filed the lawsuit against the district.

Greenwood ruled the board had to give a specific reason when going into executive session. He then ordered the board to complete training to avoid problems like this in the future. In October, parents and school board members attended a training session on open meetings.

The appellate court also upheld Greenwoods' ruling that the school board pay Zehner's legal fees.

Read the full court document (.pdf).