Senate Bill sb0078

    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                        SB 78

    By Senator Diaz de la Portilla





    36-96-07

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Miami-Dade County School

  3         Board; providing for the relief of Maria Gough

  4         and Jorge Gough, parents and natural guardians

  5         of Jaime Gough, a minor, and of Jorge Gough, as

  6         personal representative of the estate of Jaime

  7         Gough, for the wrongful death of their son,

  8         which was due in part to the school board's

  9         negligent failure to prevent forseeable

10         violence on school grounds; providing for the

11         payment of damages; providing an effective

12         date.

13  

14         WHEREAS, on February 3, 2004, Jaime Gough, a

15  14-year-old gifted student and violinist, was fatally stabbed

16  by a classmate in a bathroom at Southwood Middle School in

17  Miami-Dade County, and

18         WHEREAS, according to sworn statements by other

19  students, Jaime's assailant, 14-year-old Michael Hernandez,

20  had brought a knife to the school almost daily, not just on

21  the day of the assault, and

22         WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County School Board had been

23  advised in 1999 by the President of the National Institute of

24  School Safety to install metal detectors or X-ray machines,

25  but the school board had not done so, and

26         WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade School Board was on notice that

27  crimes frequently occur in the county's schools, since crime

28  statistics kept by the board show, for example, that in the

29  2002-2003 school year, 24,526 offenses were reported in the

30  county school system, and that 175 of those offenses involved

31  the possession of weapons, and

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    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                        SB 78
    36-96-07




 1         WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Police Department's

 2  public records show that, in the 3-year period before Jaime

 3  Gough died, many crimes had occurred at Southwood Middle

 4  School, including batteries, assaults, and possession of

 5  weapons, and

 6         WHEREAS, during the school year preceding the year of

 7  Jaime Gough's death, 107 calls for police service were made to

 8  the middle school, and more than 20 arrests were made, and

 9         WHEREAS, the school used lay people as hall monitors

10  and had not adequately trained them and did not employ

11  trained, licensed security guards, and it was common knowledge

12  among the students that they could wander around the halls

13  without the required hall pass, and

14         WHEREAS, after a student told the hall monitor who was

15  on duty the day of the homicide that someone's legs were

16  protruding from a bathroom stall, the monitor did not

17  immediately check the bathroom but waited until the second

18  time he was asked to go to the murder scene, and

19         WHEREAS, teachers at Southwood Middle School knew that

20  Michael Hernandez had been using school computers to access

21  sites that feature violent crime, but they had not taken any

22  disciplinary action or corrective action, and

23         WHEREAS, upon learning of her son's death, Maria Gough

24  collapsed, and, subsequently, she experienced depression and

25  was compelled to quit working, and

26         WHEREAS, in the wake of his loss, Jorge Gough has

27  difficulty sleeping, has stated that Maria Gough cannot be

28  comforted and that he cannot count on her to do anything at

29  home, and he is overwhelmed by all his responsibilities, and

30  

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                        SB 78
    36-96-07




 1         WHEREAS, the murder has caused difficulties between

 2  Jaime's parents, and this once harmonious family is broken,

 3  fragile, and devastated, and

 4         WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County School Board has agreed

 5  to pay to Maria Gough the sum of $________, which includes the

 6  maximum of $100,000 payable under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes,

 7  and

 8         WHEREAS, the school board has agreed to pay to Jorge

 9  Gough the sum of $____________________, which includes the

10  maximum of $100,000 payable under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes,

11  NOW, THEREFORE,

12  

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

14  

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

16  act are found and declared to be true.

17         Section 2.  The Miami-Dade County School Board is

18  directed to compensate Maria Gough, as parent and natural

19  guardian of Jaime Gough, a minor, the sum of $_____________

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

21  Miami-Dade County School Board.

22         Section 3.  The Miami-Dade County School Board is

23  directed to compensate Jorge Gough, as parent and natural

24  guardian of Jaime Gough, a minor, and as personal

25  representative of the estate of the minor, the sum of

26  $_______________ for the wrongful death of his son, out of

27  funds of the Miami-Dade School Board.

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

29  law.

30  

31  

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