Source: https://casetext.com/case/tommy-p-v-board-of-commissioners
Timestamp: 2018-10-20 08:45:36
Document Index: 698269178

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 9', '§ 1', 'art. 9', '§ 1', 'art. 9', '§ 1']

Tommy P. v. Board of Commissioners, 97 Wn. 2d 385 | Casetext
97 Wn. 2d 385 (Wash. 1982)
The Supreme Court of Washington. En BancMay 27, 1982
97 Wn. 2d 385•645 P.2d 697•
Tunstall v. Bergeson
…Response Br. of Resp&apos;ts at 14-15 (citing Tommy P. v. Board of County Comm&apos;rs, 97 Wn.2d 385, 391-93, 645 P.2d…
…[1, 2] The question presented in this case is whether the Superior Court erred in concluding that statutes…
[1] Constitutional Law — Appeal and Error — Review — Constitutional Issues — Determination. An appellate court will not decide an issue on constitutional grounds when the issue can be decided on other grounds.
[2] Statutes — Construction — Legislative Intent — Statute as a Whole. A statute is construed as a whole with every provision harmonized and given effect whenever possible.
[3] Statutes — Construction — Conflicting Statutes — Reconciliation. Apparently conflicting statutes should be interpreted so that effect is given to each so long as the reconciliation does not distort the statutory language.
[4] Juveniles — Juvenile Justice Act — Purpose. The Juvenile Justice Act of 1977 (RCW 13.40) was enacted to provide for the rehabilitation of juveniles as well as their punishment.
[5] Counties — Schools and School Districts — Juveniles — Detention Facility — Education — Necessity — Cost. Under RCW 13.40 and Title 28A, education must be provided for juveniles of compulsory school age who are detained in county juvenile detention facilities, both before and after their adjudication and disposition. The county budget must provide for such education as a cost of operating the detention facility.
DORE, J., dissents in part by separate opinion.
Nature of Action: Class action seeking a declaratory judgment that all juveniles of compulsory school age were entitled to education while at a county detention facility. Superior Court: The Superior Court for Spokane County, No. 224974, Philip H. Faris, J., on August 27, 1981, entered a judgment requiring that schooling be provided to the juveniles.
Joseph Valente of Spokane Legal Services and Gary Wiggs ( Elizabeth J. Jameson and Philip J. Bertenthal, of counsel), for respondent.
The hearing on remand was held in June 1981. The plaintiffs produced evidence showing that the JJA significantly increased the time spent by juveniles in detention before disposition of their cases. The evidence also showed that education programs in detention not only improved the academic achievement of detainees, but also alleviated discipline and security problems in the facility, and even reduced the incidence of suicide attempts. The court entered findings and conclusions and issued another declaratory judgment. This judgment declared that the plaintiffs have a right to treatment in the nature of education pursuant to the due process clauses of the United States Constitution and the Washington Constitution, a statutory right to education pursuant to RCW 13.04, 13.40, and 28A.27, and a right to educational services pursuant to Const. art. 9, § 1. The findings, conclusions and judgment were appealed to this court.
Members of the plaintiff class, as juvenile detainees, have special educational needs requiring evaluative and remediative treatment and it is essential for the ultimate rehabilitation of the detainees that educational treatment be promptly provided. It must be provided soon after admission to the Detention Center.
There is no meaningful distinction in the need for educational treatment of the pre-adjudication and post-adjudication detainee. It is further shown that on some occasions pre-adjudication detainees are detained for lengthy periods of time, and this delay is the result of the needs of the juvenile court or the legal process. Average length of stay for all detainees is 4.71 days . . .
All parents, guardians and the persons in this state having custody of any child eight years of age and under fifteen years of age shall cause such child to attend the public school of the district in which the child resides for the full time when such school may be in session or to attend a private school for the same time . . .
The broad import of these provisions is that all children in the state are required to attend a school maintained at public expense unless they choose to attend a private school. The statutes recognize the critical importance of providing education to every child in the state, a duty the constitution of this state recognizes as paramount. Const. art. 9, § 1.
"Residential schools" are those schools, camps and centers established by the Department of Social and Health Services for the diagnosis, confinement, and rehabilitation of juveniles committed by the courts or for the care and treatment of persons who are exceptional in their needs by reason of mental and/or physical deficiency. RCW 28A.58.770.
(c) Such courses of instruction and school related student activities as are provided by the school district for nonresidential school students to the extent it is practical and judged appropriate for the residents. . .
For many youngsters it means the difference between whether or not they will go on and get a GED certificate and become self-sufficient adults . . . or whether they're going to be delinquents and eventually be in jail or prison even . . .
It also gives them a feeling of achievement, of success. Most of them have never had that feeling, that I can succeed or can do something. They get so tickled when they get a good score on a paper or when they pass a test just as though it is the first time in their life it has happened to them, and that feeling of achievement is something that we all need desperately, but these children more than anybody else because it is something that they have missed out on so many times in the past.
Counties containing more than fifty thousand inhabitants shall, and counties containing a lesser number of inhabitants may, provide and maintain at public expense, a detention room or house of detention, separated or removed from any jail, or police station, to be in charge of a matron, or other person of good character, wherein all children within the provisions of this chapter shall, when necessary, be sheltered . . .
Moreover, RCW 13.06.040 and .050 provide for payments from the State to counties based on the counties' performance in reducing the commitment rate of juveniles. WAC 275-32-065(e), promulgated pursuant to RCW 13.06.050, provides that counties may claim funds under RCW 13.06 to reimburse expenditures directly utilized for special supervision programs for specified purposes. Among those purposes specified is detention care reasonably necessary to achieve rehabilitation and which includes a substantial element of special services and/or a program in addition to routine supervision and care. Possibly expenditure for education programs in detention might be recoverable under this provision.
In the historic decision of Seattle Sch. Dist. 1 v. State, 90 Wn.2d 476, 585 P.2d 71 (1978), this court held that Const. art. 9, § 1 imposes upon the State the paramount duty of making ample provision for the education of all resident children. We requested the Legislature to define "basic education" and to make ample provision for its funding through regular and dependable tax sources by July 1, 1981. By this decision, we made "basic support of the common schools" a constitutional mandate.