DC Schools Settle Series of Lawsuits

The Washington Times is reporting on the settlement of a number of negligence suits filed against the DC school system, costing the system some $3 million.

The D.C. government has reached out-of-court settlements on more than 70 negligence cases worth roughly $3 million involving the public school system since 2004.

The complaints have not only involved injuries and even death, but the resulting lawsuits also have cost city taxpayers millions of dollars, according to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Among the incidents:

A kindergartner leaving Peabody Early Childhood Center in Northeast tried to slide down a railing when she fell 30 feet down an open stairwell, landing on her face and fracturing her nose. Against school policy, she was unsupervised.

At Fletcher-Johnson Educational Center in Southeast, a student reached to open the door to the gym when a jagged piece of the broken door handle sliced his forearm. The injury required seven stitches and left a permanent scar.

And at Hardy Middle School in Northwest, a 12-year-old student had to have part of his finger amputated after another student slammed the door shut on him. No medical staff was at the school, treatment was delayed, and parents weren't properly notified.

More examples of incompetence.