Judge dismisses suit against board

LISBON -- A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Leetonia school board and administrators stemming from an assault on a student in 2002.
Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge C. Ashley Pike ruled Tuesday that the school district was immune from legal action, and its workers had done nothing wrong to lift that immunity.
Joel and Maureen Aratari of Walnut Street, Leetonia, filed the lawsuit in 2004 after their son, Nicholas, was beaten in a locker room by Tommy Hart. The couple sought in excess of $25,000 in damages.
Hart, now 19, of state Route 45, Leetonia, was charged with felonious assault. Prosecutors said Hart choked and punched Aratari before banging his head against a locker and a wooden bench.
Judge Pike also handled the criminal case. Hart was sentenced to 248 days in jail, which he had already served. He was sentenced to the Eastern Ohio Corrections Center for 180 days and placed on five years' probation.
A similar lawsuit brought by the Aratari family in federal court also was dismissed.