HB 895

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Maria Gough and Jorge Gough by
3	the Miami-Dade County School Board; providing for the
4	relief of Maria Gough and Jorge Gough, parents and natural
5	guardians of Jaime Gough, a minor, and of Jorge Gough, as
6	personal representative of the estate of Jaime Gough;
7	providing for an appropriation to compensate them for the
8	wrongful death of their son, Jaime Gough, a minor, which
9	was due in part to the Miami-Dade County School Board's
10	negligent failure to prevent foreseeable violence on
11	school grounds; providing an effective date.
12
13	WHEREAS, on February 3, 2004, Jaime Gough, a 14-year-old
14	gifted student and violinist, was fatally stabbed by a classmate
15	in a bathroom at Southwood Middle School in Miami-Dade County,
16	and
17	WHEREAS, according to sworn statements by other students,
18	Jaime's assailant, 14-year-old Michael Hernandez, had brought a
19	knife to the school almost daily, not just on the day of the
20	assault, and
21	WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County School Board had been
22	advised in 1999 by the President of the National Institute of
23	School Safety to install metal detectors or X-ray machines, but
24	the school board had not done so, and
25	WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade School Board was on notice that
26	crimes frequently occur in the county's schools, since crime
27	statistics kept by the board show, for example, that in the
28	2002-2003 school year, 24,526 offenses were reported in the
29	county school system, and that 175 of those offenses involved
30	the possession of weapons, and
31	WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Police Department's public
32	records show that, in the 3-year period before Jaime Gough died,
33	many crimes had occurred at Southwood Middle School, including
34	batteries, assaults, and possession of weapons, and
35	WHEREAS, during the school year preceding the year of Jaime
36	Gough's death, 107 calls for police service were made to the
37	middle school, and more than 20 arrests were made, and
38	WHEREAS, the school used lay people whom they did not
39	adequately train as hall monitors and did not employ trained,
40	licensed security guards and, consequently, it was common
41	knowledge among the students at Southwood Middle School that
42	they could wander around the halls without the required hall
43	pass, and
44	WHEREAS, after a student told the hall monitor who was on
45	duty the day of the homicide that someone's legs were protruding
46	from a bathroom stall, the monitor did not immediately check the
47	bathroom but waited until the second time he was asked to go to
48	the murder scene, and
49	WHEREAS, teachers at Southwood Middle School knew that
50	Michael Hernandez had been using school computers to access
51	sites that feature violent crime, but they had not taken any
52	disciplinary action or corrective action, and
53	WHEREAS, upon learning of her son's death, Maria Gough
54	collapsed, and, subsequently, she experienced depression and was
55	compelled to quit working, and
56	WHEREAS, in the wake of his loss, Jorge Gough has
57	difficulty sleeping, has stated that Maria Gough cannot be
58	comforted and that he cannot count on her to do anything at
59	home, and he is overwhelmed by all his responsibilities, and
60	WHEREAS, the murder has caused difficulties between Jaime's
61	parents, and this once harmonious family is broken, fragile, and
62	devastated, and
63	WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County School Board has agreed to
64	pay to Maria Gough the sum of $________  , which includes the
65	maximum of $100,000 payable under section 768.28, Florida
66	Statutes, and
67	WHEREAS, the school board has agreed to pay to Jorge Gough
68	the sum of $__________, which includes the maximum of $100,000
69	payable under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, NOW, THEREFORE,
70
71	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
72
73	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
74	are found and declared to be true.
75	Section 2.  The Miami-Dade County School Board is
76	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
77	board not otherwise appropriated, and to draw a warrant payable
78	to Maria Gough, as parent and natural guardian of Jaime Gough, a
79	minor, in the sum of $_____________ for the wrongful death of
80	her son, Jaime Gough.
81	Section 3.  The Miami-Dade County School Board is
82	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school
83	board not otherwise appropriated, and to draw a warrant payable
84	to Jorge Gough, as parent and natural guardian of Jaime Gough, a
85	minor, and as personal representative of the estate of Jaime
86	Gough, a minor, in the sum of $_______________ for the wrongful
87	death of his son, Jaime Gough.
88	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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