School lawsuits costly to D.C.

The D.C. government has reached out-of-court settlements on more than 70 negligence cases worth roughly $3 million involving the public school system since 2004.

The complaints have not only involved injuries and even death, but the resulting lawsuits also have cost city taxpayers millions of dollars, according to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Among the incidents:

c A kindergartner leaving Peabody Early Childhood Center in Northeast tried to slide down a railing when she fell 30 feet down an open stairwell, landing on her face and fracturing her nose. Against school policy, she was unsupervised.

c At Fletcher-Johnson Educational Center in Southeast, a student reached to open the door to the gym when a jagged piece of the broken door handle sliced his forearm. The injury required seven stitches and left a permanent scar.

c And at Hardy Middle School in Northwest, a 12-year-old student had to have part of his finger amputated after another student slammed the door shut on him. No medical staff was at the school, treatment was delayed, and parents weren’t properly notified.

Schools officials yesterday pledged to provide a safer environment for children.

“In recognizing all of the maintenance and facilities problems that have plagued the school system in the past, [the school system] is committed to working closely with the Office of Facilities Modernization to identify and mend current and potential issues to protect and keep our children safe at school,” said Mafara Hobson, a spokeswoman for schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.

Since 2004, the District has paid out nearly $3.1 million in connection with negligence lawsuits filed against the school system. Many cases easily could have been prevented.

Earlier this year, for example, the District paid $345,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a student at Stanton Elementary School in Southeast who lost the sight in his left eye after being hit by a rock thrown by another student. The lawsuit said a teacher permitted rock-throwing during recess.

In 2004, the District paid out $155,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a student at Ronald H. Brown Middle School in Northeast who was sexually assaulted by the school’s track coach, Reginald Robinson.

The suit said Robinson never should have been hired in the first place because if officials had conducted a background check, they would have found he was a registered sex offender. The District settled another case in connection with Robinson for $85,000 in 2004. He later pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges.

The District paid $250,000 to settle a lawsuit in the February 2004 shooting death of James Richardson, 17, in a hallway near the cafeteria of Ballou Senior High School in Southeast. The suit claimed the school system was negligent for failing to prevent a gun from being smuggled into the school.

Similar arguments were key in a negligence case settled for $23,000 last year in a stabbing at Charles Hart Middle School in Southeast in 2004.

Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, a Cleveland-based consulting firm, said many school districts put off vital safety upgrades because of cost concerns, but end up paying more in lawsuits.

“The cost of doing nothing is often greater than the cost of doing something reasonable to fix the situation,” he said.

Other cases have settled for smaller sums but taken together expose serious safety risks in the schools.

c On March 19, 2004, a student standing in line for the bathroom at Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School in Northeast received an electrical shock after he touched an exposed wire from an uncovered thermostat. The case settled last year for $25,000.

c On March 11, 2005, a student at C. Melvin Sharpe Health School in Northwest fractured his shoulder while two school aides were trying to lift him from his wheelchair. The case settled last year for $14,500. Two days before the incident, the District paid $8,500 in a separate lawsuit over a failure to properly strap a child into a wheelchair.

c In February 2005 at Eaton Elementary School in Northwest, a sixth-grade student had to be taken to the emergency room after developing a severe allergy. She was allergic to cats, and days earlier the school had allowed a spaying clinic inside the cafeteria.

The child was placed on six medications to control the reaction, records show. The case settled for $7,500.