Tacoma Public Schools, Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn and Pierce County have reached a settlement with plaintiffs who brought a lawsuit seeking a public education for minors held on adult charges in Pierce County Jail.

For more than 25 years, Tacoma Public Schools has operated a school program for juveniles jailed at Remann Hall, the county’s juvenile detention center. When Columbia Legal Services raised the issue of providing an education program for juveniles in the adult county jail last year, Superintendent Art Jarvis authorized the district to work with Pierce County to create and staff an educational program at the jail facility.

“When this came up,” Jarvis said, “we said, ‘Let’s just do this. It is the right thing to do.’”

The district and Pierce County were already working together to put a program in place by fall 2009 when Columbia Legal Services filed a class-action lawsuit in federal district court in Tacoma. The education program began in Pierce County Jail last fall as planned by the district and county, even as negotiations were ongoing.

The collaborative settlement now under review by a judge mirrors the existing educational program format and provides for supportive monitoring for up to four years by an outside educational professional. All three parties - Tacoma Public Schools, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Pierce County - will split the costs of monitoring the program.

“We are satisfied with the resolution of this matter,” Jarvis said. “It shows that the model program we launched in the jail at the beginning of this school year is an acceptable way to provide juveniles there with an education.”

“The challenge for Pierce County was putting together a program that met the educational needs of the juveniles while taking into consideration security concerns within the jail and among this juvenile population,” Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said. “This agreement strikes the right balance.”