AMERICUS — The Sumter County Board of Education has broken the law.

Or rather six members representing themselves as the majority have broken the law.

The law, O.C.G.A. 50-14-1, Georgia's Open Meeting and Open Records Law commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law, requires members of a governing body or agency to hold a public meeting where the public's business is discussed or presented. Votes and decisions made or reached regarding you, the taxpayer, and your money are required by law to be open to the public with proper notice being given. This law exists to protect the taxpaying citizens. Decisions and actions taken at meetings not open to public review and scrutiny are illegal. The act of holding a "closed" meeting is illegal.

In a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County "Kelvin Pless, Michael Lewis, Willa Fitzpatrick, Alice Green, Edith Green, Carolyn Whitehead, in their Official Capacity as a Majority of the Members of the Sumter County Board of Education, Plantiffs vs. The Georgia State Board of Education, and Nathan Deal, in his Official Capacity as Governor of the State of Georgia, Defendants" are challenging the legality of a hearing with the State Board of Education scheduled to take place on Nov. 14 and claim "three members of the Local Board have been unwilling to make a good faith effort to rectify the issues raised in the SACS report."

Let us remind the public that SACS has put the Sumter County Schools System’s accreditation on probation status because of the actions of these same six board members. The Plaintiffs also want to make sure if they are removed that the other board members should be removed in a "all or none" proposition.

The new lawyer filing this motion is E. Brian Watkins of Atlanta.

We understand that the plaintiffs want to keep their seats on the board, but the problem is that there was no record of a public meeting to direct Watkins to file this lawsuit, which is, in our opinion, a frivolous and expensive lawsuit paid for by …  the taxpayer.

Why would the plaintiffs file this lawsuit to postpone yet again a hearing that will determine if they will be suspended, with pay, as Board members?

Because they are finally being called on the carpet to face the music and be held accountable for their past deeds? This lawsuit is (in football terminology) a "Hail Mary" last attempt to save their seats on the Board.

They know the tune they will hear won't sound so great.

So guess who has to foot the legal bill?

We do. That's right. The taxpayers of Sumter County.

Instead of our hard earned tax dollars being spent on our children, we are paying to keep this circus in town.

How different would things be if the plaintiffs signed their own check to the lawyers instead of ours?