Lawsuit Against Ft. Smith School Board Amended

There was a lawsuit filed by Ft. Smith Attorney Joey McCutchen against the Ft. Smith School Board on July 23.  McCutchen filed it on behalf of Curtis Sorrells, a Ft. Smith resident, re- garding a meeting that took place on June 23.  The meeting was that of the Committee of the Whole, which makes recommendations to the full Board.

The lawsuit alleges that when the vote was taken at the meeting on the recommendation to retire Southside's mascot and song, they violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act open meetings provision.  Wednesday McCutchen was granted two weeks for additional dis- covery.

Originally the lawsuit was field against five School Board members, then six.  However, Thursday he amended the complaint again and is now targeting the School Board as a whole rather than individual members.  McCutchen said the two weeks will allow him to question the School Board members.

According to Deanie Mehl, School Board President, in light of the litigation, the vote on July 27 to immediately retire the fight song and phase out the mascot, was not treated as a Committee of the Whole recommendation.

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