Class Dismissed

[June 17th, 2009]

When Nigel Davis, accused of felony possession of a firearm, went before a Multnomah County judge, he faced a sentence of about 30 months behind bars. But his punishment this spring came with an asterisk.

Circuit Judge Michael McShane told the 27-year-old he could petition for an early release from Inverness Jail as soon as he met one condition. Davis, who never finished high school, had to get his GED.

Now that asterisk has its own asterisk, and Davis’ deal last month with Deputy District Attorney Sean Riddell and McShane is threatened. But not because Davis is refusing to take the classes; he has been enrolled for weeks. And not because the court has changed its mind; it hasn’t.

Instead, Mount Hood Community College—the community partner that has led GED classes at Inverness and the Multnomah County Detention Center for nearly 10 years—is ending the GED program, effective July 1.

Budget cuts have forced the community college to suspend the $250,000-a-year program at least through the winter of 2010 and possibly beyond, says John Sygielski, Mount Hood’s president.

“It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make,” Sygielski says. “These are some of the most fragile individuals.”

As of June 15, Mount Hood was preparing for a $6 million reduction in the college’s two-year budget forecast of $44 million, a shortfall the college will address mostly with a mix of salary freezes, Sygielski says. The GED program is the only Mount Hood program facing elimination, according to the president.

For the 253 inmates at Inverness who took advantage of the free program this year, the immediate effect is clear: no more classes and no more tutors.

But for inmates like Davis whose sentences are tied to the GED program, there’s an additional element of uncertainty. And that also has the long-term potential to affect taxpayers, since it’s the public who foots the bill for Davis’ incarceration.

“There is a substantial amount of prison time hanging over his head if he doesn’t complete his GED,” Riddell says.

A June 23 hearing will determine how Davis’ sentence might be altered in light of Mount Hood’s budget cuts. Riddell says he is open to renegotiating with Davis’ attorney, Scott Raivio, because Davis is not at fault for the loss of the GED program. Raivio says Davis will propose another method for getting his GED in hopes of keeping the deal.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael Marcus, an advocate of sentencing that reduces crime rates, say cuts to programs like Mount Hood’s only give the appearance of saving money.

“If an offender would not have come back with a new crime had that offender gotten a GED…our costs—and the costs to the victims of avoidable crimes—will dwarf any savings,” Marcus says.

To avoid those unintended consequences, Mount Hood Community College and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office have discussed the possibility of transferring the program to another public agency such as the Multnomah Education Service District, which faces its own host of budget problems this year.

“We don’t want anyone falling through the cracks,” says Kevin Hunking, principal of the Donald E. Long School for juvenile offenders run by MESD. “It’s an important program, and we don’t want it to go away.”