HB 895

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act for the relief of Maria Gough and Jorge Gough by
3the Miami-Dade County School Board; providing for the
4relief of Maria Gough and Jorge Gough, parents and natural
5guardians of Jaime Gough, a minor, and of Jorge Gough, as
6personal representative of the estate of Jaime Gough;
7providing for an appropriation to compensate them for the
8wrongful death of their son, Jaime Gough, a minor, which
9was due in part to the Miami-Dade County School Board's
10negligent failure to prevent foreseeable violence on
11school grounds; providing an effective date.
12
13     WHEREAS, on February 3, 2004, Jaime Gough, a 14-year-old
14gifted student and violinist, was fatally stabbed by a classmate
15in a bathroom at Southwood Middle School in Miami-Dade County,
16and
17     WHEREAS, according to sworn statements by other students,
18Jaime's assailant, 14-year-old Michael Hernandez, had brought a
19knife to the school almost daily, not just on the day of the
20assault, and
21     WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County School Board had been
22advised in 1999 by the President of the National Institute of
23School Safety to install metal detectors or X-ray machines, but
24the school board had not done so, and
25     WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade School Board was on notice that
26crimes frequently occur in the county's schools, since crime
27statistics kept by the board show, for example, that in the
282002-2003 school year, 24,526 offenses were reported in the
29county school system, and that 175 of those offenses involved
30the possession of weapons, and
31     WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Police Department's public
32records show that, in the 3-year period before Jaime Gough died,
33many crimes had occurred at Southwood Middle School, including
34batteries, assaults, and possession of weapons, and
35     WHEREAS, during the school year preceding the year of Jaime
36Gough's death, 107 calls for police service were made to the
37middle school, and more than 20 arrests were made, and
38     WHEREAS, the school used lay people whom they did not
39adequately train as hall monitors and did not employ trained,
40licensed security guards and, consequently, it was common
41knowledge among the students at Southwood Middle School that
42they could wander around the halls without the required hall
43pass, and
44     WHEREAS, after a student told the hall monitor who was on
45duty the day of the homicide that someone's legs were protruding
46from a bathroom stall, the monitor did not immediately check the
47bathroom but waited until the second time he was asked to go to
48the murder scene, and
49     WHEREAS, teachers at Southwood Middle School knew that
50Michael Hernandez had been using school computers to access
51sites that feature violent crime, but they had not taken any
52disciplinary action or corrective action, and
53     WHEREAS, upon learning of her son's death, Maria Gough
54collapsed, and, subsequently, she experienced depression and was
55compelled to quit working, and
56     WHEREAS, in the wake of his loss, Jorge Gough has
57difficulty sleeping, has stated that Maria Gough cannot be
58comforted and that he cannot count on her to do anything at
59home, and he is overwhelmed by all his responsibilities, and
60     WHEREAS, the murder has caused difficulties between Jaime's
61parents, and this once harmonious family is broken, fragile, and
62devastated, and
63     WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County School Board has agreed to
64pay to Maria Gough the sum of $________  , which includes the
65maximum of $100,000 payable under section 768.28, Florida
66Statutes, and
67     WHEREAS, the school board has agreed to pay to Jorge Gough
68the sum of $__________, which includes the maximum of $100,000
69payable under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, NOW, THEREFORE,
70
71Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
72
73     Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
74are found and declared to be true.
75     Section 2.  The Miami-Dade County School Board is
76authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
77board not otherwise appropriated, and to draw a warrant payable
78to Maria Gough, as parent and natural guardian of Jaime Gough, a
79minor, in the sum of $_____________ for the wrongful death of
80her son, Jaime Gough.
81     Section 3.  The Miami-Dade County School Board is
82authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
83board not otherwise appropriated, and to draw a warrant payable
84to Jorge Gough, as parent and natural guardian of Jaime Gough, a
85minor, and as personal representative of the estate of Jaime
86Gough, a minor, in the sum of $_______________ for the wrongful
87death of his son, Jaime Gough.
88     Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.