HB 0831

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Committee on Judiciary recommends the following:
2
3	Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5
6	A bill to be entitled
7	An act relating to the Indian River County School Board;
8	providing for the relief of Ryan Besancon, a minor, by and
9	through his parents and natural guardians, Mark and Laurie
10	Besancon, for injuries sustained due to the negligence of
11	the Indian River County School Board; providing for the
12	use of such funds; providing for restrictions on the
13	expenditure of funds; providing an effective date.
14
15	WHEREAS, on January 25, 1999, 5-year-old Ryan Besancon was
16	a passenger on a school bus owned by the Indian River County
17	School Board and operated by its employee, and
18	WHEREAS, the school bus driver failed to stop at a stop
19	sign located at the intersection of 45th Street and 66th Avenue
20	in Vero Beach, Florida, causing the bus to collide with an
21	eighteen-wheel tractor-trailer and resulting in serious and
22	life-threatening injuries to Ryan Besancon and numerous other
23	children on the school bus, as well as two deaths, and
24	WHEREAS, as the result of an extensive investigation by
25	state and federal officials, it was determined that the school
26	bus driver was solely responsible for the crash, and
27	WHEREAS, on January 26, 1999, Ryan's pediatrician noted
28	that Ryan's symptoms included two skull fractures, a complaint
29	of tilting of his head, apparent sixth-nerve palsy, and a
30	prominent right adrenal gland, and
31	WHEREAS, on November 3, 1999, Ryan Besancon presented to
32	Dr. Gary M. Weiss with symptoms that included almost daily
33	headaches, neck pain, significant pain in bilateral frontal
34	areas, nausea, dizziness, occasional blurred vision, loss of
35	memory, a 10-percent hearing loss, and some decreased
36	concentration, and
37	WHEREAS, between December 8 and December 12, 1999, a
38	psychologist tested Ryan's neuropsychological functioning and
39	found that, although Ryan functioned intellectually in the
40	average range, he was experiencing significantly impaired short-
41	term memory functioning, in both verbal and visual memory; he
42	exhibited deficits in the area of attention and concentration
43	skills; he had significantly impaired construction ability and
44	perceptual processing, as well as impaired short-term visual
45	memory; he was experiencing a significant level of
46	psychopathology, consistent with a diagnosis of Adjustment
47	Disorder with Mixed Emotional Features; and he had significant
48	amounts of both depression and anxiety, and
49	WHEREAS, the psychologist concluded that Ryan's
50	"impairments are directly related to his motor vehicle
51	accident," and
52	WHEREAS, a pediatric neurologist who examined him on
53	November 2, November 20, and November 27, 2001, found that a
54	motor exam revealed difficulty hopping on the right foot, that
55	rapid alternate movements were remarkable for mild synkinesia,
56	that there had been a base of skull fracture, and that Ryan was
57	sleep-deprived, and
58	WHEREAS, an EEG revealed a partial seizure disorder, and
59	Ryan has continued under the care of a neurologist, has shown
60	little change in his symptoms, and requires prescription
61	medication to control his brain seizure activity, and
62	WHEREAS, as a result of the injuries he sustained in the
63	accident, Ryan had to repeat 1 year of elementary school, has
64	had great difficulty learning to read, and remains emotionally
65	and intellectually disadvantaged, and
66	WHEREAS, as the result of extensive mediation conducted in
67	the fall of 2002, Mark and Laurie Besancon entered into a
68	settlement agreement with the Indian River County School
69	District, and
70	WHEREAS, the terms of the settlement provided for payment
71	of the sum of $70,000 as compensation for Ryan's injuries, upon
72	the passage of a claim bill authorizing such a payment, which is
73	a necessary prerequisite to the school board's compensating Ryan
74	because the maximum payments allowed under section 768.28,
75	Florida Statutes, have already been made to other parties
76	injured in the same accident, and
77	WHEREAS, the attorneys representing the Besancons have
78	waived all attorney's fees in order that a greater portion of
79	the settlement funds might benefit Ryan, NOW, THEREFORE,
80
81	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
82
83	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
84	are found and declared to be true.
85	Section 2.  The Indian River County School Board is
86	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
87	board not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the
88	amount of $70,000, payable after July 1, 2004, to Mark and
89	Laurie Besancon, as parents and natural guardians of Ryan
90	Besancon, a minor, for injuries and damages sustained by Ryan
91	Besancon due to the negligence of the Indian River County School
92	Board. Such funds are to be deposited into a guardianship
93	account for the exclusive use and benefit of Ryan Besancon. It
94	is the intent of the Legislature that no funds exceeding $5,000
95	per calendar year appropriated herein subsequently be spent, or
96	any obligation thereof incurred by the guardian, without prior
97	order of the circuit court.
98	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.