Senate Bill sb0046

    Florida Senate - 2001        (NP)                        SB 46

    By Senator Sullivan





    22-44A-01

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Pinellas County School

  3         Board; providing for the relief of Jane Doe, a

  4         minor; authorizing and directing the District

  5         School Board of Pinellas County to compensate

  6         her for personal injuries suffered due to the

  7         negligence of the school board; providing an

  8         effective date.

  9

10         WHEREAS, on January 4, 1990, Jane Doe, an 11-year-old

11  6th-grade student in Pinellas County, Florida, was raped by a

12  14-year-old 8th-grade student inside the school that both

13  attended, and

14         WHEREAS, Miss Doe's teacher had sent Miss Doe to the

15  outside parking lot of the school for the purpose of rolling

16  down the teacher's car windows, and

17         WHEREAS, Miss Doe was inside the school, returning to

18  her class, when she was accosted, and

19         WHEREAS, there was no security in the school halls

20  during class time, nor was there security in the parking lot,

21  and

22         WHEREAS,  the 14-year-old perpetrator had been

23  appointed as a student assistant and allowed to roam the

24  halls, despite the fact that his grades were too poor to meet

25  the standards set for that position and the fact that, prior

26  to this incident, both adults and students at the school had

27  reported that the perpetrator had exhibited other

28  inappropriate sexual behavior, and

29         WHEREAS, as a result of the rape, Miss Doe suffers from

30  post-traumatic-stress syndrome, nightmares, and headaches,

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    Florida Senate - 2001        (NP)                        SB 46
    22-44A-01




  1  has become withdrawn and unable to fully socialize with

  2  others, and has needed and continues to need counseling, and

  3         WHEREAS, in August 1998, a Pinellas County jury found

  4  that the District School Board of Pinellas County was

  5  negligent in this matter and awarded $600,000 in damages to

  6  Miss Doe and $50,000 to her mother and $50,000 to her father,

  7  and

  8         WHEREAS, a final judgment in that amount was entered,

  9  the school board appealed, and the Second District Court of

10  Appeal affirmed the final judgment, per curiam, and

11         WHEREAS, the school board has paid the parents' claims

12  and has also paid $100,000 to Miss Doe, leaving an unpaid

13  amount of $500,000 owed to Miss Doe under the judgment, NOW,

14  THEREFORE,

15

16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

17

18         Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this

19  act are found and declared to be true.

20         Section 2.  The District School Board of Pinellas

21  County is authorized and directed to compensate Jane Doe, a

22  minor, in the amount of $500,000 for injuries and damages

23  sustained due to the negligence of the school board, out of

24  funds of the District School Board of Pinellas County not

25  otherwise appropriated.

26         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

27  law.

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