The Columbus Dispatch had challenged the assertion, saying the board was circumventing Ohio’s open meetings laws as members discussed the ongoing attendance data scrubbing scandal.

A Franklin County Common Pleas Court magistrate ruled Thursday that the board must stop such meetings.

The newspaper reports that the school board used the tactic to close seven meetings last year.

The board’s attorney said it was considering all its options.

The case is continuing on several questions, including whether the board can close its meetings by citing other exceptions in the law.

Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar opened Monday’s meeting saying she’s sorry and understands anything she does may find its way into the public domain.

The statement satisfied board member C. Todd Jones, who said the flap should end here. Other members said she’s compared President Barack Obama to a “monstrous killer” and should resign.

Terhar has acknowledged she made a mistake by sharing a photo of the Nazi leader on Facebook while criticizing Obama’s new gun-control efforts. She maintains she wasn’t trying to compare Obama to Hitler.

Click here to hear Terhar’s apology.

“We’re going to continue exactly the way we intended. We’ll have Dr. Schiller come, the board will interview him, and we’ll go ahead and see what we do to move forward,” said board President Debe Terhar.

The board went into executive session this morning to interview Schiller.
The third finalist, Gov. John Kasich’s education advisor Robert Sommers, withdrew earlier because state lobbying laws would have cut his contact with the governor.