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Judge calls
for Felix decree
compliance

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By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

A federal consent decree aimed at improving educational and mental health services for Hawaii public school special-needs students will continue until Dec. 31, 2001, with further court oversight for 18 months afterward, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra said yesterday that he was going to sign an order that would resolve remaining issues in the so-called Felix consent decree to make the state comply.

"There'll be no mistake here made about the court's resolve to see this matter to an appropriate conclusion," Ezra said.

The decree is named for Jennifer Felix, whose 1993 lawsuit alleged the state was violating federal law that requires adequate mental health, educational and other services to special-needs children.

While the court-appointed monitor in the case recommended that the state be fined $1,000 a day each time it misses certain kinds of benchmarks, the court's order will give the judge sole discretion for determining sanctions.

Ezra said that giving the state the option of paying a fine of $1,000 a day versus not complying with an expensive benchmark would give the state the wrong message.

"Compliance must take place regardless of cost," Ezra said.

Ezra in May found the state in contempt for failing to comply with the consent decree by June 30.

Yesterday's hearing was originally scheduled as part of a series of hearings that Ezra had called to decide what would be the best and quickest course of action for the state departments of Health and Education to take to comply.

The court had been expected to resolve issues where the plaintiffs and the state have not been able.

But Ezra announced yesterday that both sides, along with court monitor Ivor Groves, had reached an agreement that would resolve the remaining issues.

Ezra said the state must meet all new benchmarks set by the court.

"We are moving to and should have one of the best special education regimes in the United states when ... the requirements of this order are complied with during the timetables that have been mandated."