After months of stonewalling, MCPS finally provides retroactive contract for Jackson Lewis services

With a huge amount of help from the Public Access Ombudsman at the Maryland Attorney General's office, the Parents' Coalition has finally obtained a copy of the contract between the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Jackson Lewis law firm.

The contract, which was never approved by the Board of Education as required by law, is dated August 24, 2023 but covers the period July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.  To be clear: The Jackson Lewis law firm began their work long before the contract was signed.  We're not sure that matters much, though, since the contract has never been approved by the Board of Education — unless they approved it in secret, which would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Since the contract was never approved by the Board of Education, there is literally no executed contract between the Board of Education and Jackson Lewis.  The Board of Education isn't obligated or even authorized to pay Jackson Lewis for their services.