Image Credit: Clarksville-Montgomery County School System / Facebook.
Article by the Tennessee Conservative News staff –
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System wants to let a federal judge make the determination as to how their $700,000 liability payout will be split among the families involved in a fatal school bus crash last March.
According to the school system, Tennessee law caps the amount that the district is required to pay at the $700,000 amount. This maximum is the total that can be paid out to all of the families, not the amount per student.
The district filed a complaint asking a federal just to decide how that money should be divided amongst the families of the 22 injured and 2 dead. In the lawsuit, they acknowledge that they anticipate that claims filed by the families will exceed the maximum allowable amount.
“CMCSS faces multiple, competing claims for money damages from a limited fund,” the complaint reads. The district noted that this could leave them “exposed to the risk of multiple and inconsistent judgments and to litigation in multiple forums that, in the aggregate, could exceed the statutory cap.”
The district also asked that victims and their families be prevented from bringing any additional lawsuits against the school system and requested that the district be released from any further liability related to the school bus crash.
The bus driver, Sabrina Ducksworth, has since been indicted on charges including driving on roadways laned for traffic and failure to exercise due care. The grand jury opted not to indict her on a charge of vehicular homicide.
This latest complaint comes after parents previously demanded accountability from the school system, citing a failure to provide adequate communication during and after the accident.
Sources:
WKRN.
WSMV.
