DC Held in Contempt for Failing to Comply with Court Order to Provide Special Education to DC Jail Students

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, students with disabilities at the DC Jail complex have not received the education and related services to which they are entitled under federal law.

On June 16, 2021, the Court found that, inter alia, students were experiencing irreparable harm from the denial of their education and that Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim. Therefore, the Court provisionally certified the class and ordered the District of Columbia within 15 days to provide the students with “the full hours of special education and related services mandated by their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) through direct, teacher-or-counselor-led group classes and/or one-on-one sessions, delivered via live videoconference calls and/or in-person interactions.”

However, the District has failed to comply with this order.

On February 16, 2022, Judge Nichols found the District of Columbia in contempt for its failure to comply with the preliminary injunction. Judge Nichols ordered the District to submit individualized plans to ensure that each student will receive the education hours lost since the original preliminary injunction order and to extend eligibility for students past their 22nd birthday for the amount of time necessary for them to receive the education they should have received had the District complied immediately with the preliminary injunction. In addition, he ordered a “remote-learning system fully operational” in the DC Jail by March 15.

In his Contempt Order, Judge Nichols noted that, “every student currently enrolled in the Program remains at an inexcusable educational deficit for this school year—a failure all the more baffling given that the Court entered its Preliminary Injunction months before the school year began.” Judge Nichols further stated “[i]t is beyond doubt (indeed, it is essentially conceded) that Defendants have failed, and are continuing to fail, to comply with the Preliminary Injunction. They have had ample time to do so, yet remain out of compliance.” See the Order here.

The Washington Post, writing about the Court’s order (see here), explained that “while some services have [improved since the beginning of the pandemic], the contempt order revealed deep and persistent failures to operate the high school program. . . .”

Carolyn Smith Pravlik of Terris, Pravlik, and Millian, LLP, who argued the motion, says: “The Judge’s Order sends a clear message to the District that it cannot continue with business as usual but must immediately take effective steps to meet the Court’s injunction and thereby meet the educational needs of the high school students at the DC Jail.”