HB 0305 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Indian River County School Board;
3	providing for the relief of Tylor Griffeth, a minor, by
4	and through Mark Griffeth and Teresa Griffeth, his parents
5	and natural guardians; directing the school board to
6	compensate Tylor Griffeth for personal injuries caused by
7	the negligence of the school board; specifying uses of the
8	funds; providing for attorney's fees and costs; providing
9	an effective date
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11	WHEREAS, on January 25, 1999, 6-year-old Tylor Griffeth was
12	riding home from his elementary school in a school bus owned by
13	the Indian River County School Board and operated by a driver
14	employed by the Indian River County School Board, and
15	WHEREAS, the school bus driver failed to stop at a stop
16	sign and struck a tractor-trailer, resulting in the death of the
17	tractor-trailer driver and one student in the school bus, and in
18	injury to Tylor and other children who were aboard the bus, and
19	WHEREAS, Tylor was treated at the scene, was later taken by
20	ambulance to Sebastian River Medical Center, and subsequently
21	was transferred to the trauma center at Holmes Regional Medical
22	Center in Melbourne, Florida, and
23	WHEREAS, his admission diagnosis was a closed-head injury
24	with diplopia (double vision), as well as back and forehead
25	abrasions, and his discharge diagnosis was a possible
26	concussion, and
27	WHEREAS, Tylor's general physician provided followup care
28	and later referred Tylor to physical therapy to reduce his
29	cervical pain and headaches and to the Bascom Palmer Eye
30	Institute for ongoing visual problems, and
31	WHEREAS, Dr. Brad Simmons of the eye institute diagnosed a
32	sixth-nerve palsy in Tylor's left eye secondary to trauma, and a
33	subsequent examination again demonstrated an abduction deficit
34	in the left eye, and
35	WHEREAS, Tylor underwent a second evaluation, performed by
36	Dr. Paul Carney of the Neurology Department at Shands Teaching
37	Hospital, because of his history of a concussion with continuing
38	visual problems and his complaints that objects appeared smaller
39	in the left eye and that he was experiencing problems focusing
40	and having occasional headaches, and
41	WHEREAS, Dr. Carney diagnosed a post-concussive syndrome
42	for which he recommended monitoring in the future, and
43	WHEREAS, as a result of Tylor's injuries, his parents
44	incurred $14,813.71 in medical bills, and Mrs. Griffeth lost a
45	considerable amount of time from her employment to care for her
46	son and take him to doctors' appointments, and
47	WHEREAS, more than 3 years after the accident, Tylor is
48	still experiencing symptoms from his injuries which are
49	indicative of the permanent nature of his condition, and
50	WHEREAS, the Indian River County School Board was placed on
51	the appropriate statutory notice, and a lawsuit was filed on
52	April 16, 2001, and
53	WHEREAS, the school board has already paid the statutory
54	limit under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, for claims or
55	judgments arising out of the same incident or occurrence, and
56	WHEREAS, the attorneys for the parties performed
57	appropriate discovery, which resulted in an agreement whereby
58	the Indian River County School Board agreed to pay Mark Griffeth
59	and Teresa Griffeth, as parents and natural guardians of Tylor
60	Griffeth, $40,000 subject to a successful claim bill, NOW,
61	THEREFORE,
62
63	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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65	Section 1.The facts stated in the preamble to this act
66	are found and declared to be true.
67	Section 2. The Indian River County School Board is
68	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
69	board not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the
70	sum of $40,000 payable to Mark Griffeth and Teresa Griffeth, as
71	parents and natural guardians of Tylor Griffeth, a minor, as
72	compensation for injuries and damages sustained as a result of
73	the negligence of the school board. After payment of statutory
74	attorney's fees and costs, the balance shall be paid into a
75	Special Needs Trust Fund established for Tylor Griffeth.
76	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
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