Bill Text: FL S0038 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relief of Jane Doe by the School Board of Miami-Dade County

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-30 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 6523 (Ch. 2019-188) [S0038 Detail]

Download: Florida-2019-S0038-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2019                              (NP)    SB 38
       
       
        
       By Senator Thurston
       
       
       
       
       
       33-00120-19                                             201938__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Jane Doe by the School Board
    3         of Miami-Dade County; providing for an appropriation
    4         to compensate Jane Doe for injuries and damages
    5         sustained as a result of the negligence of the School
    6         Board of Miami-Dade County; providing a limitation on
    7         the payment of attorney fees; providing an effective
    8         date.
    9  
   10         WHEREAS, Jane Doe was hired by the School Board of Miami
   11  Dade County during the 2012-2013 school year as an itinerant
   12  teacher for students who were deaf and hard of hearing, and
   13  entered into a 1-year employment contract under which she
   14  traveled and taught at 10 elementary and middle schools during
   15  that school year, and
   16         WHEREAS, Jane Doe was transferred during the 2013-2014
   17  school year to Miami Centennial Middle School, where she taught
   18  a class of nine middle school students, all of whom were deaf or
   19  hard of hearing, and
   20         WHEREAS, Jane Doe was reassigned in August 2014 by the
   21  School Board of Miami-Dade County to South Dade Senior High
   22  School, where she taught history, economics, and government to
   23  high school students with emotional and behavioral disorders,
   24  and
   25         WHEREAS, Jane Doe’s former position at Miami Centennial
   26  Middle School, for which she was qualified, remained unfilled
   27  for the 2014-2015 school year, and the School Board of Miami
   28  Dade County knew that Jane Doe was not certified or licensed to
   29  teach students with emotional and behavioral disorders or to
   30  teach the subjects of history, economics, or government, and
   31         WHEREAS, the School Board of Miami-Dade County is required
   32  to provide teachers who teach students with emotional and
   33  behavioral disorders with self-defense training and to ensure
   34  that they receive instruction in security and crisis management,
   35  but Jane Doe did not receive any such training or instruction,
   36  or any other training, before assuming her new position at South
   37  Dade Senior High School, and
   38         WHEREAS, South Dade Senior High School had at least 3,500
   39  enrolled students, one of the largest student populations in the
   40  nation, during the time of Jane Doe’s reassignment and during
   41  the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years the school had one of
   42  the highest rates in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools of
   43  student safety incidents reported to the Department of
   44  Education, and
   45         WHEREAS, during the 2012-2013 school year, at least 145
   46  fights were reported at South Dade Senior High School, and it
   47  was among the top 10 schools in South Florida for reported
   48  assaults, batteries, fighting, vandalism, theft, burglaries, and
   49  tobacco use, and
   50         WHEREAS, during the 2013-2014 school year, 119 fights were
   51  reported at South Dade Senior High School, and it was among the
   52  worst in the district for violent and drug-related incidents,
   53  and
   54         WHEREAS, in June 2013, before enrolling as a student in
   55  South Dade Senior High School, Victor Nash was arrested by the
   56  Miami-Dade Police Department and charged with making written
   57  threats to kill or do bodily harm, a violation of s. 836.10,
   58  Florida Statutes, a felony of the second degree, and he was
   59  subsequently charged by petition in that case, and
   60         WHEREAS, following the commencement of the criminal case,
   61  Mr. Nash was deemed incompetent to stand trial and began
   62  receiving restoration services from the Department of Juvenile
   63  Justice pursuant to s. 985.19, Florida Statutes, and, in May
   64  2014, a juvenile court determined that Mr. Nash would never
   65  attain competence, and
   66         WHEREAS, the School Board of Miami-Dade County knew or
   67  should have known of the court’s determination of permanent lack
   68  of competency and, despite the determination, 3 months later
   69  elected to enroll Mr. Nash in South Dade Senior High School,
   70  where he was assigned to Jane Doe’s class, and
   71         WHEREAS, the School Board of Miami-Dade County knew that
   72  Mr. Nash was a student with emotional and behavioral disorders,
   73  and it never notified Jane Doe about the charges filed against
   74  him, in violation of s. 985.04(4), Florida Statutes, his
   75  dangerous propensities, or that a court had recently deemed him
   76  mentally incompetent, and
   77         WHEREAS, on September 19, 2014, Jane Doe was instructed by
   78  a superior to stay on campus after regular school hours to call
   79  students’ parents regarding their individual education plans,
   80  and
   81         WHEREAS, Mr. Nash remained on campus for at least 2 hours
   82  after the final bell rang and ultimately went to Jane Doe’s
   83  classroom, where he found her alone, and
   84         WHEREAS, as Jane Doe attempted to leave the classroom after
   85  becoming alarmed at Mr. Nash’s behavior, Mr. Nash violently
   86  grabbed her and slammed her to the ground, causing her to hit
   87  her head, and then choked her until she lost consciousness, and
   88         WHEREAS, Mr. Nash proceeded to rape Jane Doe in her
   89  classroom and then threw away her cell phone, took her car keys
   90  from her purse, and located her vehicle in the school’s faculty
   91  parking lot and drove it off of school property, and
   92         WHEREAS, Mr. Nash was later apprehended in Jane Doe’s
   93  vehicle by an officer of the Homestead Police Department, and
   94         WHEREAS, as a result of this incident, in the criminal case
   95  State of Florida v. Victor Marshall Nash, No. F14021341 (Fla.
   96  11th Cir. Ct. 2014), Mr. Nash was charged with and pled guilty
   97  to attempted first degree murder, sexual battery causing great
   98  bodily harm, strong-arm robbery, and grand theft auto, and
   99         WHEREAS, the attempted murder and the sexual battery of
  100  Jane Doe by Mr. Nash and the grossly negligent, indifferent, and
  101  reckless conduct and breach of trust and confidence by the
  102  School Board of Miami-Dade County resulted in the loss of her
  103  virginity and have caused Jane Doe severe and permanent
  104  psychological injuries, severe depression, physical and mental
  105  pain and suffering, gastrointestinal distress, constant fear,
  106  nightmares, weight gain, anxiety, mood swings, and the loss of
  107  capacity for the enjoyment of life, and she has suffered loss of
  108  earnings and a loss of ability to earn money in the future, and
  109         WHEREAS, the injuries suffered by Jane Doe are persistent,
  110  permanent, and debilitating in nature, and
  111         WHEREAS, in resolving a civil action brought by Jane Doe,
  112  Jane Doe v. the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, No.
  113  16-011821-CA-01 (Fla. 11th Cir. Ct. 2016), the parties signed a
  114  settlement agreement on April 9, 2018, under the terms of which
  115  a total amount of $3 million was to be paid to Jane Doe, of
  116  which the School Board of Miami-Dade County paid $200,000
  117  pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and its insurer paid
  118  $1.5 million, and the payment of the remaining $1.3 million is
  119  conditioned upon passage of this claim bill, NOW, THEREFORE,
  120  
  121  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
  122  
  123         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
  124  found and declared to be true.
  125         Section 2. The School Board of Miami-Dade County is
  126  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
  127  board not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum
  128  of $1.3 million payable to Jane Doe as compensation for injuries
  129  and damages sustained.
  130         Section 3. The amount paid by the School Board of Miami
  131  Dade County pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and by its
  132  insurer under the terms of the settlement agreement and the
  133  amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole
  134  compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
  135  the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
  136  injuries and damages to Jane Doe. The total amount paid for
  137  attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent
  138  of the total amount awarded under this act.
  139         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.