Senate Bill sb0074

    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                        SB 74

    By Senator Wilson





    33-92A-07

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Pinellas County School

  3         Board; providing for the compensation of the

  4         estate of Brooke Ingoldsby and for the relief

  5         of Michelle Allen, parent and natural guardian

  6         of Brooke Ingoldsby, a minor, for the wrongful

  7         death of her daughter, which was due in part to

  8         the negligent failure of a county school bus

  9         driver to secure the safety of children who

10         exit the school bus; providing for the payment

11         of damages; providing an effective date.

12  

13         WHEREAS, on February 11, 2005, Brooke Ingoldsby, an

14  8-year-old third grader at James B. Sanderlin Elementary

15  School, was being transported home on a school bus of the

16  Pinellas County School Board which was driven by an

17  inadequately trained substitute bus driver employed by the

18  school board, and

19         WHEREAS, rather than depositing Brooke, who was the

20  last student on the bus, at her appointed bus stop where her

21  grandmother was waiting for her, the substitute bus driver

22  dropped Brooke off on the corner of 90th Avenue and the east

23  side of 9th Street North, an extremely busy thoroughfare in

24  St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, and

25         WHEREAS, when the substitute bus driver dropped off

26  Brooke, he did not turn on the bus's flashing lights or

27  display its stop sign, and

28         WHEREAS, as Brooke attempted to cross 9th Street North,

29  another school bus of the Pinellas County School Board, which

30  was also operated by an employee of the school board, was

31  northbound on 9th Street North, and

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    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                        SB 74
    33-92A-07




 1         WHEREAS, as that school bus was slowing to a stop at

 2  the intersection of 90th Avenue and 9th Street North, the

 3  driver did not turn on the red flashing lights or extend the

 4  stop sign on the side of the bus even though the driver saw

 5  southbound traffic approaching the intersection as Brooke

 6  started to cross 9th Street North, and

 7         WHEREAS, Brooke was subsequently struck by a southbound

 8  sports utility vehicle in the west-most southbound lane of 9th

 9  Street North and was pronounced dead 3 hours later at Bayfront

10  Medical Center, and

11         WHEREAS, Brooke suffered multisystem trauma, head

12  injury, bilateral closed femur injury, a closed right humerus

13  fracture, and a severe abrasion to her right waistline, and

14         WHEREAS, it was later determined that the substitute

15  bus driver was uncertain where to allow Brooke to exit the

16  school bus and was given an incomplete drop-off schedule, and

17         WHEREAS, before this accident, Brooke's mother,

18  Michelle Allen, had made numerous complaints to the Pinellas

19  County School Board regarding the lack of safety of the

20  children in the school district's transportation system, and

21         WHEREAS, the Pinellas County School Board admitted

22  liability for Brooke's death and agreed to pay the total sum

23  of $2.5 million for the damages and losses sustained by the

24  estate of Brooke Ingoldsby and for the losses suffered by

25  Brooke's mother, Michelle Allen, and

26         WHEREAS, judgment was entered in the amount of $2.5

27  million, including $200,000 in damages and losses sustained by

28  the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby and $2.3 million for the losses

29  suffered by Brooke's mother, Michelle Allen, and

30         WHEREAS, the school district has paid $100,000 to the

31  estate and $100,000 for the losses suffered by Michelle Allen,

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    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                        SB 74
    33-92A-07




 1  thus exhausting the limits of the waiver of sovereign

 2  immunity, and

 3         WHEREAS, the school district maintained a liability

 4  policy of $1 million, which was paid to Michelle Allen, and

 5         WHEREAS, the remaining sums owed under the judgment

 6  include $100,000, which is owed to the estate, and $1.2

 7  million, which is owed to Michelle Allen, NOW, THEREFORE,

 8  

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

10  

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

12  act are found and declared to be true.

13         Section 2.  The Pinellas County School Board is

14  directed to compensate the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby the sum

15  of $100,000 for the wrongful death of Brooke Ingoldsby, a

16  minor, out of the funds of the Pinellas County School Board.

17         Section 3.  The Pinellas County School Board is

18  directed to compensate Michelle Allen, as parent and natural

19  guardian of Brooke Ingoldsby, a minor, the sum of $1.2 million

20  for the wrongful death of her daughter, out of the funds of

21  the Pinellas County School Board.

22         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

23  law.

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