Weast v. Montgomery County

May 5, 2010 UPDATE: Thanks to the Montgomery County Council's Public Information Office we were supplied with a copy of the pleading sent to the County Council by Superintendent Jerry Weast. The copy we received is shown below. Previously we had posted a copy obtained by another blog.

The request for a copy of this document was answered within one day by Montgomery County Government and without a bill for the document. This is in contrast to the practice of MCPS of sitting on public information requests for weeks and then responding with a bill (typically $787+) for producing public documents.  

The blog Montgomery County Daily has obtained a copy of the pleading in the threatened litigation between the school system and the county.

The pleading is titled Board of Education v. Montgomery County, Maryland.

Really? When exactly did the Board of Education make a decision to hire outside legal counsel Judith Bresler of the law firm of Carney, Kelehan to draft this document? (Check out what this firm is already making in one month in legal fees from MCPS here.)

The Maryland Open Meetings Act requires closed sessions of the Board of Education to state the topic to be discussed in closed session. The Board of Education has been cited before for not complying with this requirement of the Maryland Open Meetings Act. They know better than to fail to disclose the topics they are discussing in closed session. No discussion of education funding litigation at the April 26, 2010 Board of Education closed session!

Maybe the Board of Education has never discussed litigation against the county? Maybe this document should really be titled Jerry D. Weast v. Montgomery County, Maryland?

How much have taxpayers spent already for the creation of this document? Which Board of Education members support the expenditure of MCPS Operating Budget funds on litigation against the county by hourly rate - outside legal counsel? What about just asking the Attorney General for an opinion on this issue? The AG is already on the payroll.

mcps