Senate Bill sb0074e1
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CS for SB 74 First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act for the relief of the estate of Brooke
3 Ingoldsby, deceased minor child of Michelle
4 Allen, and Michelle Allen, parent and natural
5 guardian of Brooke Ingoldsby, individually, by
6 the Pinellas County School Board; providing for
7 an appropriation to compensate the estate of
8 Brooke Ingoldsby, and Michelle Allen,
9 individually, for the wrongful death of Brooke
10 Ingoldsby, which was due in part to the
11 negligent failure of a county school bus driver
12 to secure the safety of children who exit the
13 school bus; providing for limitation on
14 attorney's fees and lobbying fees; providing an
15 effective date.
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17 WHEREAS, on February 11, 2005, Brooke Ingoldsby, an
18 8-year-old third grader at James B. Sanderlin Elementary
19 School, was being transported home on a school bus of the
20 Pinellas County School Board which was driven by an
21 inadequately trained substitute bus driver employed by the
22 school board, and
23 WHEREAS, rather than depositing Brooke Ingoldsby, who
24 was the last student on the bus, at her appointed bus stop
25 where her grandmother was waiting for her, the substitute bus
26 driver dropped Brooke Ingoldsby off on the corner of 90th
27 Avenue and the east side of 9th Street North, an extremely
28 busy thoroughfare in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida,
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CS for SB 74 First Engrossed
1 WHEREAS, when the substitute bus driver dropped off
2 Brooke Ingoldsby, he did not turn on the bus's flashing lights
3 or display its stop sign, and
4 WHEREAS, as Brooke Ingoldsby attempted to cross 9th
5 Street North, another school bus of the Pinellas County School
6 Board, which was also operated by an employee of the school
7 board, was northbound on 9th Street North, and
8 WHEREAS, as that school bus was slowing to a stop at
9 the intersection of 90th Avenue and 9th Street North, the
10 driver did not turn on the red flashing lights or extend the
11 stop sign on the side of the bus even though the driver saw
12 southbound traffic approaching the intersection as Brooke
13 Ingoldsby started to cross 9th Street North, and
14 WHEREAS, Brooke Ingoldsby was subsequently struck by a
15 southbound sports utility vehicle in the west-most southbound
16 lane of 9th Street North and was pronounced dead 3 hours later
17 at Bayfront Medical Center, and
18 WHEREAS, Brooke Ingoldsby suffered multisystem trauma,
19 head injury, bilateral closed femur injury, a closed right
20 humerus fracture, and a severe abrasion to her right
21 waistline, and
22 WHEREAS, it was later determined that the substitute
23 bus driver was uncertain where to allow Brooke Ingoldsby to
24 exit the school bus and was given an incomplete drop-off
25 schedule, and
26 WHEREAS, before this accident, Brooke Ingoldsby's
27 mother, Michelle Allen, had made numerous complaints to the
28 Pinellas County School Board regarding the lack of safety of
29 the children in the school district's transportation system,
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CS for SB 74 First Engrossed
1 WHEREAS, the Pinellas County School Board admitted
2 liability for Brooke Ingoldsby's death and agreed to pay the
3 total sum of $2.5 million for the damages and losses sustained
4 by the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby and for the losses suffered
5 by Brooke Ingoldsby's mother, Michelle Allen, and
6 WHEREAS, judgment was entered in the amount of $2.5
7 million, including $200,000 in damages and losses sustained by
8 the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby and $2.3 million for the losses
9 suffered by Brooke Ingoldsby's mother, Michelle Allen, and
10 WHEREAS, the school district has paid $100,000 to the
11 estate and $100,000 for the losses suffered by Michelle Allen,
12 thus exhausting the limits of the waiver of sovereign
13 immunity, and
14 WHEREAS, the school district maintained a liability
15 policy of $1 million, which was paid to Michelle Allen, and
16 WHEREAS, the remaining sums owed under the judgment
17 include $100,000, which is owed to the estate, and $1.2
18 million, which is owed to Michelle Allen, NOW, THEREFORE,
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20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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22 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this
23 act are found and declared to be true.
24 Section 2. The Pinellas County School Board is
25 authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
26 school board not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant
27 payable to the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby, decedent minor, for
28 the total amount of $100,000 as compensation to the estate of
29 Brooke Ingoldsby for the wrongful death of Brooke Ingoldsby as
30 a result of the negligence of the Pinellas County School
31 Board.
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CS for SB 74 First Engrossed
1 Section 3. The Pinellas County School Board is
2 authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
3 school board not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant
4 payable to Michelle Allen, parent and natural guardian of
5 Brooke Ingoldsby, her deceased minor child, for the total
6 amount of $1.2 million for the wrongful death of her daughter,
7 Brooke Ingoldsby, as a result of the negligence of the
8 Pinellas County School Board.
9 Section 4. Payment for attorney's fees and costs
10 incurred by the claimant's attorneys shall not exceed
11 $280,237. Payment for the professional services and costs of
12 lobbyists advocating for passage of this claim shall not
13 exceed $13,000.
14 Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
15 law.
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