An Iowa District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Independent Community School District in regard to the sale of the former Rice Elementary School property in Beaverdale.

The lawsuit, brought by an organization called Save the Green, alleged the school district violated the Iowa Open Meetings Law in making decisions about the sale of the Rice property. The lawsuit originally claimed that the school district also violated state law in regard to the sale of property; that allegation was dismissed by the District Court last July.

In a ruling issued today, the court noted that there was no evidence to support the allegations. Summary judgment was granted to the school board, Superintendent Nancy Sebring and volunteer members of a committee that reviewed the sale of the Rice property.

The school board voted on Jan. 9, 2007, to sell the 4.4-acre property to Rice Development Partners for $650,000 after proposals were reviewed by a committee of representatives of the school district, city and neighborhood organizations.