Kelly v. Parents United for the District of Columbia Public Schools

641 A.2d 159, 1994 WL 144663
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 5, 1994
Docket90-CV-1130, 90-CV-1158 & 92-CV-1126
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 641 A.2d 159 (Kelly v. Parents United for the District of Columbia Public Schools) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kelly v. Parents United for the District of Columbia Public Schools, 641 A.2d 159, 1994 WL 144663 (D.C. 1994).

Opinions

[160]*160FERREN, Acting Chief Judge:

In August 1989, Parents United for the D.C. Public Schools1 brought suit to enforce the District of Columbia Public School Nurse Assignment Act of 1987, D.C.Code § 31-2421 et seq. (1988), requesting both declaratory and injunctive relief.2 The Nurse Assignment Act requires the District to assign a registered nurse to each elementary and secondary school for a specified number of hours per week and, further, to assign either a registered nurse or a certified athletic trainer to attend every school-sponsored athletic event. Parents United alleged that (1) the District had violated the Nurse Assignment Act, which Parents United had an implied private right of action to enforce, and that (2) the District’s failure to implement that Act violated not only the Act itself but also the due process clause of the Constitution, permitting recovery under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982).3

The trial court granted summary judgment for Parents United on both the statutory and the constitutional4 claims, granted permanent injunctive relief ordering compliance with both requirements of the Act, and awarded Parents United attorney’s fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (1982).5 We agree that Parents United has an implied private right of action to enforce the Nurse Assignment Act and that the District violated that Act. We therefore affirm summary judgment under the Act and the trial court’s permanent injunction. Because, however, this private right of action — providing a complete remedy in the District’s courts — gives Parents United all the process that is due, we must conclude that Parents United has not been deprived of a property right without due process of law and, as a result, cannot recover under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. We therefore must reverse the trial court order awarding attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. See supra note 5.

I. The Nurse Assignment Act of 1987

The Council of the District of Columbia enacted the Nurse Assignment Act in 1987 in an effort to remedy the severe shortage of nurses in the District’s public schools, as well as the lack of medical personnel at school-sponsored athletic events. See Council of THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, COMM. ON HUMAN SeRvs., Report on Bill 7-47, The DistRict of Columbia Public School NuRSe Assignment Act of 1987, at 2-3 (June 11, 1987) (hereafter Report on Bill 7-47). The Act provided:

[161]*161(a) A registered nurse shall be assigned to each District of Columbia (“District”) elementary and secondary public school a minimum of 12 hours per week during each semester and during summer school if a summer school program is operated.
(b) The minimum hours per week of registered nurse services at each school shall increase from 12 to 16 hours per week beginning 1 year after December 10, 1987. The minimum hours per week of registered nurse services at each school shall increase from 16 to 20 hours per week beginning 2 years after December 10, 1987.

D.C.Code § 31-2421(a), (b) (1988).6 The Act also explained that medical services would be provided at all school-sponsored athletic events:

(d) A registered nurse, a certified athletic trainer, or both shall be present at all athletic events sponsored by the District elementary or secondary public schools that occur in the District. These medical services shall be in addition to the minimum hours of registered nurse services required by subsection (a) or (b) of this section.

D.C.Code § 31-2421(d) (1988). Furthermore, the Act initially provided that “[s]uffi-cient funds to carry out the requirements of this section are authorized to be appropriated out of the general revenues of the District.” D.C.Code § 31-2421(e) (1988).

In 1990, the Council amended § 31-2421(e) to stress the need for mandatory funding. It was relettered as subsection © and now reads: “Sufficient funds to carry out the requirements of this section shall be appropriated out of the general revenues of the District.” D.C.Law 8-149 (July 26, 1990), D.C.Code § 31-2421© (1993) (emphasis added); see 37 D.C.Reg. 2208-10 (1990). The Council also added provisions governing the types of medical personnel to be provided at particular athletic events. See 37 D.C.Reg. at 2208-09.7 Finally, the Council added subsection (g), which transferred the responsibility for implementing the Act from the Department of Human Services to the Board of Education. See 37 D.C.Reg. at 2209, 3718; D.C.Code § 31-2421(g) (1993).

Although the 1990 amendments of the Nurse Assignment Act re-emphasized the Council’s desire to place and maintain nurses in the schools and at athletic events, the Act was never fully implemented. The trial court found that (1) “[s]ince the enactment of the Act, there have been a maximum of 54 nurses working in the public schools” and that (2) “[f]ifty-one additional school nurses would need to be hired in order for defendants to be in compliance with the Amended Act.” The District never contested this finding. Although the District’s 1991 budget provided $454,700 for the hiring of fourteen certified athletic trainers needed to comply with the Act’s provisions for medical coverage at school-sponsored athletic events, that budget did not provide funding for the additional school nurses necessary to comply with the school nurse provisions.

II. Proceedings to Date

Frustrated by the “egregious and continuing violation of the Nurse Assignment Act,” Parents United brought suit in the Superior Court in August 1988 seeking both declaratory and injunctive relief.8 In September 1989, Parents United amended its complaint to [162]*162allege that the District defendants had “denied plaintiffs their right to procedural due process under the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution in violation of [42 U.S.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
641 A.2d 159, 1994 WL 144663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelly-v-parents-united-for-the-district-of-columbia-public-schools-dc-1994.