Dyer's Lawsuits Against Howard County Schools Cost Taxpayers $443,000

The Howard County school district has spent $443,000 in legal expenses to fight two lawsuits filed against it by one of its board members, according to the Howard County Times.

In a story published today, the newspaper reports that the two lawsuits Allen Dyer has filed since being elected to the Board of Education in 2008 have cost what board Chairwoman Janet Siddiqui describes as a “significant amount of money.”

In October, the previous school board chairwoman, Ellen Flynn Giles, said Dyer’s lawsuit at that time, which alleged an improper destruction of e-mail records, was a “distraction.”

"When he's thwarted by the action of the board, he has resorted to this, which is a distraction to the work" . "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."

Dyer, an Ellicott City resident, defended his e-mail records lawsuit in October, saying it was “crazy” that board members had the authority to delete e-mail.

"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,” Dyer said in October.

Dyer’s most recent suit was filed April 15 in Howard County’s circuit court. In it, he asked that the court rule “all of the board’s meetings to be open and public, in compliance with the Maryland Open Meetings Act,” according to the Howard County Times.

Dyer has not won any of the lawsuits against the school board, the Howard County Times reported.

Dyer, who represents himself, told the paper he has spent $400,000 of his own money fighting the cases.

Dyer is up for re-election to the school board in 2012.