The state Board of Education has dismissed an appeal by Allen Dyer-- a member of the Howard County school board-- regarding the county board's policy of providing buses to parochial school students.

Dyer asked the state board to review the county's transportation policy in June, after he protested the inclusion of funding in the school system's budget devoted to providing bus service for students at parochial schools.

Dyer claimed that parochial students received preferential treatment that other private school students in the county did not receive by being bused by the public school system. He disagreed with the school board's decision to pay $526,260 in fiscal year 2010 to accommodate those students.

He said the school system is constitutionally barred from providing transportation to a select group of private school students. "If we bus some private school students, we bus them all," he said. "We can't pick and choose which ones we want to bus."

The state board dismissed his appeal Dec. 10, stating that he did not have standing to appeal the county board's decision.

Dyer had claimed that, as a taxpayer and board member, he had standing to appeal the policy. But the state board ruled that, as a taxpayer, he was not specifically aggrieved by the policy and that, as a board member, he was not an administrator who could be held liable for enforcing the policy if it was found to be unconstitutional. Six members of the nine-member state board ruled on the issue; the other three were absent.

Dyer said he would wait until after the school system's winter break to determine if he would take any further action.

School board Chairwoman Ellen Flynn Giles did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The state board's Dec. 10 ruling is the second time this year it has turned down an appeal by Dyer regarding a policy of the county board.

In May, Dyer asked the state board to review the county's policy on royalties. Dyer contended the school board cannot collect royalties because it does not have copyright authority. However, the state board dismissed his appeal on the grounds that it has no jurisdiction over the policy in question.

"A ruling on (federal) copyright laws and their use or applicability to public documents is far beyond the legal purview of this board. Copyright law is not a law enforceable by this board," the state board wrote.

Dyer said in late November that he planned to appeal that policy to the Howard County Circuit Court.

---

user comments (1)

user freedomlover says...

SOMEBODY must have standing. This just sounds like a dodge to me.

Posted 2:35 PM, 12.25.09 | Permalink