Prompted by a law firm that aids the poor, the Tacoma School District has begun offering an education to teenage inmates at the Pierce County jail.

But the firm has filed a class-action lawsuit to ensure the program continues.

The lawsuit, filed in Pierce County Superior Court last week, names the school district, Pierce County and state schools Superintendent Randy Dorn as defendants. It seeks an injunction forcing them to offer educational services at the jail.

Columbia Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm that advocates for the needs of low-income people, filed the lawsuit. It has been negotiating for several months with the county and the school district over education services at the jail.

After the firm threatened to file a lawsuit, the Tacoma School District last month pledged to begin offering classes for inmates under the age of 18. The district already offers classes at Remann Hall, where most of the county’s juvenile offenders who are detained serve their sentences or await trial.

A jail official said recently the number of inmates under age 18 can range from zero to 12 on any given day.

Tacoma schools Superintendent Art Jarvis declined to comment on the lawsuit. But Jarvis and sheriff’s department spokesman Ed Troyer confirmed the district launched an education program at the jail before district classes ended last week.

Jarvis said the program will resume in the fall.

“I think it’s the beginning of a program that will be very helpful to the young people there,” Jarvis said.

Gavin Thornton, an attorney for Columbia Legal Services, said the agency has “really been encouraged by the efforts they’ve made to implement educational services at the jail.”

But he said the class-action lawsuit is needed to ensure the district follows through on what it started.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are two 17-year-old jail inmates identified only by their initials.

According to the lawsuit, the teens repeatedly requested but were denied educational services at the jail earlier this year. It claims the defendants had failed to provide young inmates with teachers, classes, books or other forms of instruction for years until Columbia Legal Services demanded they provide services last month.

Among other things, the lawsuit cites a provision of the state constitution providing all people under age 18 the right to a free public education.

David Wickert: 253-274-7341

david.wickert@thenewstribune.com

blogs.thenewstribune.com/politics