School Board Member Sues His Board

Board of Ed member Allen Dyer has filed a lawsuit against the school board over a disagreement about how the system handles e-mails, according to ExploreHoward.

Dyer said his action is in the interest of preserving public records and documents.

“I cannot accept the unauthorized destruction of public records and, therefore, I am preparing to ask the Circuit Court of Howard County to order the end of the destruction of public records by the Howard County Board of Education and its employees,” Dyer wrote in an Oct. 21 letter to school system lawyer Mark Blom informing him of his plan to take the matter to court.

No word on what if anything Dyer thinks is in those e-mails.

ExploreHoward said Dyer has gone to the courts before.

Dyer, who was elected to the school board on his fourth attempt in 2008, has sued the school board in the past on matters dealing with open meetings. After six years of litigation and appeals, that lawsuit was thrown out in 2006 when the state’s highest court denied a review of the case, in which lower courts had ruled that Dyer lacked standing. Dyer, a lawyer, also has represented other parties in lawsuits against the school board.

Since becoming a member of the board, he also has twice challenged board decisions by appealing them to the state Board of Education.