The lawsuit argued that the commissioners' meeting should have been open to the public.
(Ethan Burks, WFIU/WTIU News)
The Monroe County Circuit court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Seven Oaks charter school over a $250 fine for violating the county mask mandate. While commissioners eventually waived the fine, Seven Oaks sought to recoup its legal fees from the Monroe County Commissioners and Health Department after its appeal was rejected.
The Ellettsville charter school was fined in 2021 for a resolution passed by its board not to require masks. Seven Oaks was the only Monroe County school found in violation of the health mandate, which its headmaster Stephen Shipp claimed didn’t apply to schools.
After the county commissioners rejected its appeal, Seven Oaks’ attorney Carl Lamb, a candidate for judge in the upcoming election, claimed the commissioners’ private hearing violated Indiana’s Open Door Law, which requires government agencies to hold meetings publicly.
Monroe County Attorney Lee Baker said that the case’s dismissal came down to Indiana’s pandemic-era statute calling on counties to establish their own process for reviewing challenges to masking violations.
“The statute wasn’t particularly well written,” Baker said. “It was written by the legislature against the backdrop of the emergency. They needed to get something on the books to guide local government units on this area.”
The commissioners decided that appeals review was a “quasi-judicial” process, and therefore exempt from the Open Door Law. Judge Erik Allen ruled in favor of the commissioners and health department.
Seven Oaks’ noncompliance with pandemic laws has caused conflict with the Monroe County health department in the past, such as when the department denied the school federal funds set aside for abating expenses related to COVID-19.
Seven Oaks Classical School describes itself as a secular liberal arts K-12 with a focus on “Western tradition.” The school was twice denied a charter before securing one through Grace College and Theological Seminary, a self-described evangelical Christian school. The Indiana Coalition for Public Education of Monroe County filed a suit in 2017 calling for Seven Oaks’ charter to be revoked because it was authorized by a religious institution. The suit was later dismissed.
Baker hopes the case can help inform better governance. Baker says the county may deliberate future violation appeals publicly. “Lawsuits do have positives. We learn from them and make adjustments public policy-wise,” said Baker. “We’ll take that as a positive from this one and move forward, hoping of course that we don’t have to do this kind of thing again.”
Seven Oaks administrators could not be reached for comment for this story.
