The chairwoman of the Howard County school board says one board member's decision to file lawsuits on board policy matters is "distracting to the work of the board."

Chairwoman Ellen Flynn Giles is referring to board member Allen Dyer, from Ellicott City, who filed a lawsuit today in Howard County Circuit Court against the Howard County Board of Education alleging what he describes as improper destruction of records, including email.

The lawsuit asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order and/or a temporary and permanent injunction that would forbid the school board and district employees from deleting or destroying public records, including email.

"When he's thwarted by the action of the board, he has resorted to this, which is a distraction to the work" Giles said. "Not that he doesn't have a right to speak - he does - but there are things of concern to him, and they have been discussed, and action has been taken."

"I do wish he didn't find it necessary to take this kind of action," she added.

In the lawsuit, Dyer said he had sought on Sept. 23, Oct. 7 and Oct. 21 to have the school board vote on stopping "document destruction" until the board has a written policy on retaining records. But Dyer did not receive the backing of a second board member that is required to bring a topic up for a vote.

"For Chairman Giles to argue that it is a distraction exposes a dramatic difference in philosophy between my concept of a role of a board of education member and Ms. Giles's concept of what a board member is supposed to be doing," Dyer said. "Anytime there is a reasonable allegation that the board is ... engaging in illegal behavior, that is first and foremost where the board needs to direct its attention."

This is not the first time Dyer has sought to take legal action against the Howard County school board on which he serves. Last year, the Maryland State Board of Education dismissed two cases he filed.

Board member Patricia S. Gordon, from Ellicott City, said she presumes Dyer thinks litigation is the most "productive way" to discuss this issue.

"I'm not surprised at any lawsuit he's filed," she said.

Dyer said this weekend he was alarmed by an Oct. 1 memo sent to the board by the school system's technology officer. The memo says that emails can be deleted from accounts and that deleted emails are subsequently expunged from the computer system after three or four days.

The memo also notes that backups of email records are kept for 30 days before being written over.

"Right now every employee of the Board of Education has full authority to delete email," Dyer said. "There is no review. That's crazy."

Mark Blom, attorney for the Howard County school system, has said Dyer is wrong and the handling of all records is "completely in compliance with the law."

Maryland law requires governmental bodies to provide an inventory of their records and a schedule for when certain records will be sent to the state archives.

Giles did not dismiss the idea of discussing how the district deals with "changing technology."

But she said she preferred the school board act through analyzing and enacting policy, rather than through litigation.

She said the board is scheduled to vote on a charter that would define the scope of the policy discussions on email records and identify who would be on a committee studying the issue at a meeting Nov. 4 starting 7:30 p.m. at the board office building, 10910 State Route 108, Ellicott City.