Jenkins by Agyei v. State of Mo., 91-3356
| Decision Date | 27 November 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-3356,91-3356 |
| Citation | 949 F.2d 1052 |
| Parties | 71 Ed. Law Rep. 409 Kalima JENKINS, by her next friend, Kamau AGYEI; Carolyn Dawson, by her next friend Richard Dawson; Tufanza A. Byrd, by her next friend Teresa Byrd; Derek A. Dydell, by his next friend Maurice Dydell; Terrance Cason, by his next friend Antoria Cason; Jonathan Wiggins, by his next friend Rosemary Jacobs Love; Kirk Allan Ward, by his next friend Mary Ward; Robert M. Hall, by his next friend Denise Hall; Dwayne A. Turrentine, by his next friend Shelia Turrentine; Gregory A. Pugh, by his next friend David Winters; on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated; Plaintiffs-Appellees, American Federation of Teachers, Local 691, Intervenor-Appellee, v. STATE OF MISSOURI; John Ashcroft, Governor of the State of Missouri; Wendell Bailey, Treasurer of the State of Missouri; Missouri State Board of Education; Roseann Bentley, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Raymond McCallister, Jr., Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Susan D. Finke, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Thomas R. Davis, presiding President, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Robert E. Bartman, Commissioner of Education of the State of Missouri; Gary D. Cunningham, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Rebecca M. Cook, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Sharon M. Williams, Member of the Missouri State Board of Education; Defendants-Appellants School District of Kansas City, Missouri; Walter L. Marks, Superintendent thereof, Defendants-Appellees |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Michael Fields, Jefferson City, Mo., argued (Bart A. Matanic, on the brief), for defendants-appellants.
Allen Snyder, Washington, D.C., and Arthur Benson, Kansas City, Mo., argued (Michael Thompson and Shirley Ward Keeler, Kansas City, Mo., and David S. Tatel, Allen S. Snyder, Daniel B. Kohrman and Wilhelmina M. Wright, Washington, D.C., on brief), for plaintiffs-appellees.
Before McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.
The issue before us is an extremely narrow one, whether the State of Missouri may defer payments it concedes it owes for capital improvements in the Kansas City, Missouri, School District for the 1991-92 school year until after July 1, 1992. The State argues that after it spent $3.9 million during the 1991-92 school year, it had exceeded the $150,000,000 limit referred to in our earlier opinion in Jenkins v. Missouri, 855 F.2d 1295 (8th Cir.1988) (Jenkins II ), aff'd in part and rev'd in part, 495 U.S. 33, 110 S.Ct. 1651, 109 L.Ed.2d 31 (1990), and it made a budgeting decision that its expenditures should not exceed this amount. KCMSD argues that our language in Jenkins II was approximate only, and that later district court orders, particularly those dealing with land acquisition costs, have in effect increased the limit. We affirm the district court's 1 order that the State is responsible for the payments under regular drawdown 2 procedures during the remainder of the 1991-92 school year, but further order that the parties obtain interim financing so as to make unnecessary substantial cutbacks by the State in the remainder of the fiscal year.
The seeds of the controversy before us and the basis for the State's argument are contained in language in our Jenkins II opinion in which we stated:
From materials that have been filed with us concerning the financial needs of the KCMSD, it is apparent that the capital improvements plan that we affirm today does not cover all expenditures that may be necessary between now and the 1991-92 school year, specifically some $16 million for land acquisition and asbestos removal costs. We are informed by the post-argument filings that KCMSD's bond issue has been sold, and that the net proceeds are in the hands of the district. Presumably, these funds will produce substantial interest income before all will be expended in the renovation and construction program. The State is entitled to a determination of the extent of its liability through the 1991-92 fiscal year, and we conclude that the approximately $150,000,000 which is the State's share of capital improvements should be the limit of its contribution for capital expenditures for that period.
Following this decision, the district court has entered some twenty orders with respect to capital improvements--ordering funding for site acquisitions, furniture, construction, and other capital items. The State appealed only two of these orders. In Jenkins v. Missouri, 931 F.2d 470 (8th Cir.) (Jenkins IV ), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 437, 116 L.Ed.2d 456 (1991), we affirmed a district court order including asbestos abatement costs as capital expenses under the desegregation remedy, id. at 478-79, and approving a $8,231,565 increase in the Central High School construction budget. Id. at 481-83. 3
In essence, the dispute between the parties is whether these increased amounts of expenditures for capital improvements are to be added to the $300 million referred to in Jenkins II, which KCMSD argues, or whether they must be included within that amount, which is the position of the State.
We issued Jenkins IV on April 22, 1991. Shortly thereafter, the chain of events leading to this controversy commenced. On May 14, 1991, the Missouri attorney general's office notified counsel for the KCMSD that this court limited the State's capital contributions to $150,000,000 in Jenkins II; that up to May 1, 1991, the State had made capital contributions of $147,866,767.04; and that with interest earnings, the State was required to pay only another $820,699.92. The attorney general's office advised that the State would deposit $820,699.92 in the capital account, and that this would be the last deposit until July 1, 1992. During the 1991-92 school year, the State made total contributions to the capital improvements fund of approximately $3.9 million.
The State's decision to terminate its payments was a budgeting decision. The Assistant Director for the Division of Budget and Planning in the Office of Administration for the State of Missouri, attached budget figures dated January 10, 1991, to an affidavit showing the capital account with the high figure of $60 million, a low of zero, and an estimate of $3.9 million for the 1991-92 school year. He explained in his affidavit that based on the limit set by this court: "I have budgeted only $3.9 million for capital [improvements] in Fiscal Year 1992."
After receiving the May 14, 1991, letter from the attorney general's office, KCMSD filed a motion for an expedited order requiring the State to make the necessary payments to fund the capital facilities approved by the district court. KCMSD requested an order prohibiting the State from unilaterally cutting off funds and requiring it to cooperate with the capital account drawdown process through the end of KCMSD's 1991-92 year. The district court granted KCMSD's motion on August 23, 1991. Jenkins v. Missouri, No. 77-0420-CV-W-4, slip op. at 3 (W.D.Mo. Aug. 23, 1991). 4 On October 16, 1991, the district court entered an order denying the State's motion to alter or amend the judgment and the State's request for a stay pending appeal. Jenkins v. Missouri, No. 77-0420-CV-W-4 slip op. at 2 (W.D.Mo. Oct. 16, 1991). On October 18, 1991, the State filed its notice of appeal and moved for a stay pending appeal. We expedited briefing and argument of the motion for stay pending appeal, but on the morning the case was to be heard, the parties reached an agreement making it unnecessary that we consider the stay motion. The parties requested that hearings on the merits be expedited, and we have now heard arguments.
The State argues before this court, as it did in the district court, that Jenkins II placed a specific limitation of both time and amount on the State's total capital contribution through the fiscal year 1992 of "approximately $150,000,000." The State further argues that no orders since Jenkins II have overruled the $150,000,000 limit, that the State has relied on the limit, and that a change in the State's expectations at this time would wreak havoc on the State's budget, requiring in addition to some $200 million in earlier budget cuts, an additional $34.5 million in cuts from state aid to school districts throughout the state, $17.9 million from college and university budgets, and cuts in health, family and child welfare programs and mental health programs. The State only argues that the language in Jenkins II entitles it to delay payment of its capital obligations beyond the $150,000,000 limit until the 1992-93 fiscal year. It states: The State's position would simply "change the timing of each party's payments." The State reasons that the court included the limit to provide a respite or "breathing space" to the State for budgeting purposes.
While our decision must turn on the meaning of the language of our decision in Jenkins II, certain facts we have referred to above are particularly significant. The first is that the district court has issued twenty orders approving additional capital costs after Jenkins II, including $61,756,730 for land acquisition, $10,665,018 for furniture, and $9,141,790 for Central High School and asbestos abatement. The State has appealed only two of these orders, and we affirmed those orders concerning Central High School and asbestos abatement in Jenkins IV. 931 F.2d at 478-79, 481-83. Furthe...
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