| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act for the relief of the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby, |
| 3 | deceased minor child of Michelle Allen, and Michelle |
| 4 | Allen, parent and natural guardian of Brooke Ingoldsby, |
| 5 | individually, by the Pinellas County School Board; |
| 6 | providing for an appropriation to compensate the estate of |
| 7 | Brooke Ingoldsby, and Michelle Allen, individually, for |
| 8 | the wrongful death of Brooke Ingoldsby, which was due in |
| 9 | part to the negligent failure of a county school bus |
| 10 | driver to secure the safety of children who exit the |
| 11 | school bus; providing for limitation on attorney's fees |
| 12 | and lobbying fees; providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | WHEREAS, on February 11, 2005, Brooke Ingoldsby, an 8-year- |
| 15 | old third grader at James B. Sanderlin Elementary School, was |
| 16 | being transported home on a school bus of the Pinellas County |
| 17 | School Board which was driven by an inadequately trained |
| 18 | substitute bus driver employed by the school board, and |
| 19 | WHEREAS, rather than depositing Brooke Ingoldsby, who was |
| 20 | the 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 Ingoldsby off on the corner of 90th Avenue and |
| 23 | the east side of 9th Street North, an extremely busy |
| 24 | thoroughfare in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, and |
| 25 | WHEREAS, when the substitute bus driver dropped off Brooke |
| 26 | Ingoldsby, he did not turn on the bus's flashing lights or |
| 27 | display its stop sign, and |
| 28 | WHEREAS, as Brooke Ingoldsby attempted to cross 9th Street |
| 29 | North, another school bus of the Pinellas County School Board, |
| 30 | which was also operated by an employee of the school board, was |
| 31 | northbound on 9th Street North, and |
| 32 | WHEREAS, as that school bus was slowing to a stop at the |
| 33 | intersection of 90th Avenue and 9th Street North, the driver did |
| 34 | not turn on the red flashing lights or extend the stop sign on |
| 35 | the side of the bus even though the driver saw southbound |
| 36 | traffic approaching the intersection as Brooke Ingoldsby started |
| 37 | to cross 9th Street North, and |
| 38 | WHEREAS, Brooke Ingoldsby was subsequently struck by a |
| 39 | southbound sports utility vehicle in the west-most southbound |
| 40 | lane of 9th Street North and was pronounced dead 3 hours later |
| 41 | at Bayfront Medical Center, and |
| 42 | WHEREAS, Brooke Ingoldsby suffered multisystem trauma, head |
| 43 | injury, bilateral closed femur injury, a closed right humerus |
| 44 | fracture, and a severe abrasion to her right waistline, and |
| 45 | WHEREAS, it was later determined that the substitute bus |
| 46 | driver was uncertain where to allow Brooke Ingoldsby to exit the |
| 47 | school bus and was given an incomplete drop-off schedule, and |
| 48 | WHEREAS, before this accident, Brooke Ingoldsby's mother, |
| 49 | Michelle Allen, had made numerous complaints to the Pinellas |
| 50 | County School Board regarding the lack of safety of the children |
| 51 | in the school district's transportation system, and |
| 52 | WHEREAS, the Pinellas County School Board admitted |
| 53 | liability for Brooke Ingoldsby's death and agreed to pay the |
| 54 | total sum of $2.5 million for the damages and losses sustained |
| 55 | by the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby and for the losses suffered by |
| 56 | Brooke Ingoldsby's mother, Michelle Allen, and |
| 57 | WHEREAS, judgment was entered in the amount of $2.5 |
| 58 | million, including $200,000 in damages and losses sustained by |
| 59 | the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby and $2.3 million for the losses |
| 60 | suffered by Brooke Ingoldsby's mother, Michelle Allen, and |
| 61 | WHEREAS, the school district has paid $100,000 to the |
| 62 | estate and $100,000 for the losses suffered by Michelle Allen, |
| 63 | thus exhausting the limits of the waiver of sovereign immunity, |
| 64 | and |
| 65 | WHEREAS, the school district maintained a liability policy |
| 66 | of $1 million, which was paid to Michelle Allen, and |
| 67 | WHEREAS, the remaining sums owed under the judgment include |
| 68 | $100,000, which is owed to the estate, and $1.2 million, which |
| 69 | is owed to Michelle Allen, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 70 |
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| 71 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 72 |
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| 73 | Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act |
| 74 | are found and declared to be true. |
| 75 | Section 2. The Pinellas County School Board is authorized |
| 76 | and directed to appropriate from funds of the school board not |
| 77 | otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to the estate |
| 78 | of Brooke Ingoldsby, decedent minor, for the total amount of |
| 79 | $100,000 as compensation to the estate of Brooke Ingoldsby for |
| 80 | the wrongful death of Brooke Ingoldsby as a result of the |
| 81 | negligence of the Pinellas County School Board. |
| 82 | Section 3. The Pinellas County School Board is authorized |
| 83 | and directed to appropriate from funds of the school board not |
| 84 | otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant payable to Michelle |
| 85 | Allen, parent and natural guardian of Brooke Ingoldsby, her |
| 86 | deceased minor child, for the total amount of $1.2 million for |
| 87 | the wrongful death of her daughter, Brooke Ingoldsby, as a |
| 88 | result of the negligence of the Pinellas County School Board. |
| 89 | Section 4. Payment for attorney's fees and costs incurred |
| 90 | by the claimant's attorneys shall not exceed $280,237. Payment |
| 91 | for the professional services and costs of lobbyists advocating |
| 92 | for passage of this claim shall not exceed $13,000. |
| 93 | Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |