HB 0305 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Judiciary recommends the following:
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8	Committee Substitute
9	Remove the entire bill and insert:
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11	A bill to be entitled
12	An act relating to the Indian River County School Board;
13	providing for the relief of Tylor Griffeth, a minor, by
14	and through Mark Griffeth and Teresa Griffeth, his parents
15	and natural guardians; providing for an appropriation to
16	compensate Tylor Griffeth for injuries caused by the
17	negligence of the school board; specifying uses of the
18	funds; providing for attorney's fees and costs; providing
19	an effective date
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21	WHEREAS, on January 25, 1999, 6-year-old Tylor Griffeth was
22	riding home from his elementary school in a school bus owned by
23	the Indian River County School Board and operated by a driver
24	employed by the Indian River County School Board, and
25	WHEREAS, the school bus driver failed to stop at a stop
26	sign and struck a tractor-trailer, resulting in the death of the
27	tractor-trailer driver and one student in the school bus, and in
28	injury to Tylor and other children who were aboard the bus, and
29	WHEREAS, Tylor was treated at the scene, was later taken by
30	ambulance to Sebastian River Medical Center, and subsequently
31	was transferred to the trauma center at Holmes Regional Medical
32	Center in Melbourne, Florida, and
33	WHEREAS, his admission diagnosis was a closed-head injury
34	with diplopia (double vision), as well as back and forehead
35	abrasions, and his discharge diagnosis was a possible
36	concussion, and
37	WHEREAS, Tylor's general physician provided followup care
38	and later referred Tylor to physical therapy to reduce his
39	cervical pain and headaches and to the Bascom Palmer Eye
40	Institute for ongoing visual problems, and
41	WHEREAS, Dr. Brad Simmons of the eye institute diagnosed a
42	sixth-nerve palsy in Tylor's left eye secondary to trauma, and a
43	subsequent examination again demonstrated an abduction deficit
44	in the left eye, and
45	WHEREAS, Tylor underwent a second evaluation, performed by
46	Dr. Paul Carney of the Neurology Department at Shands Teaching
47	Hospital, because of his history of a concussion with continuing
48	visual problems and his complaints that objects appeared smaller
49	in the left eye and that he was experiencing problems focusing
50	and having occasional headaches, and
51	WHEREAS, Dr. Carney diagnosed a post-concussive syndrome
52	for which he recommended monitoring in the future, and
53	WHEREAS, as a result of Tylor's injuries, his parents
54	incurred $14,813.71 in medical bills, and Mrs. Griffeth lost a
55	considerable amount of time from her employment to care for her
56	son and take him to doctors' appointments, and
57	WHEREAS, more than 3 years after the accident, Tylor is
58	still experiencing symptoms from his injuries which are
59	indicative of the permanent nature of his condition, and
60	WHEREAS, the Indian River County School Board was placed on
61	the appropriate statutory notice, and a lawsuit was filed on
62	April 16, 2001, and
63	WHEREAS, the school board has already paid the statutory
64	limit under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, for claims or
65	judgments arising out of the same incident or occurrence, and
66	WHEREAS, the attorneys for the parties performed
67	appropriate discovery, which resulted in an agreement whereby
68	the Indian River County School Board agreed to pay Mark Griffeth
69	and Teresa Griffeth, as parents and natural guardians of Tylor
70	Griffeth, $40,000 subject to a successful claim bill, NOW,
71	THEREFORE,
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73	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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75	Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act
76	are found and declared to be true.
77	Section 2. The Indian River County School Board is
78	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
79	board not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the
80	sum of $40,000, payable after July 1, 2003, to Mark Griffeth and
81	Teresa Griffeth, as parents and natural guardians of Tylor
82	Griffeth, a minor, as compensation for injuries and damages
83	sustained as a result of the negligence of the school board.
84	Such funds are to be deposited into a guardianship account for
85	the exclusive use and benefit of Tylor Griffeth. The amount
86	payable pursuant to this section is inclusive of costs and
87	attorney's fees as limited by s. 768.28(8), Florida Statutes.
88	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.