School District Settles Negligence Suit With Massachusetts Family

A Massachusetts family whose 5-year-old special needs daughter was left stranded for hours on a cold school bus has settled a lawsuit against the school district.

A lawyer for the Gloucester family told The Gloucester Daily Times on Monday that the negligence lawsuit has been settled for an undisclosed amount. The city’s insurance carrier paid the settlement.

According to police, the girl was left on an empty bus for about two hours in January 2015. When she was found, school staff didn’t take the child to a hospital and waited an hour to notify her parents.

The family sued, seeking $1 million in damages.

The bus driver and bus monitor were fired. No one was ever criminally charged.

Superintendent Richard Safier refused to comment on the settlement.

Information from: Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times