August 19, 2003
By Elliot Grossman
Of The Morning Call

Abstract (Document Summary)

[James Giles] faulted the school district, intermediate unit and bus company for not properly training the driver. The bus driver had done several things wrong in the way he put the harness on the girl, including putting it on backward with the zipper against her throat.

In court papers, the intermediate unit tried to put the blame entirely on the bus company. But Giles blamed the intermediate unit as well because it should have known that the bus company was not qualified to use the harness. A reasonable jury could conclude that it was obvious-- the bus company needed special training, he wrote.

According to [Lawyer Peggy Burns], a key point of the case is that when school districts delegate responsibilities to contractors, the districts retain significant legal responsibility, she said. They need to provide effective training to all individuals involved in special education programs, including bus contractors, bus drivers and bus aides, she said.

Full Text

Copyright Morning Call Aug 19, 2003

A Quakertown family has agreed to a $3.6 million lawsuit settlement after their daughter died from injuries sustained on a school bus, ending a case that has caused schools across the nation to review the way they transport students.

Cynthia Susavage, who had a rare disease that caused her to be frail and uncoordinated, died in 1999 after she choked on a harness meant to keep her sitting upright.

Lawyer Peggy Burns, a school transportation expert based in Colorado, cites the case at national and regional seminars for educators. When she does, she often hears gasps from the audience and sees tears in people’s eyes.

Cynthia’s disability hampered her ability to communicate, preventing her from alerting the driver that she couldn’t breathe. “Nobody could notice that Cynthia was strangling,” Burns said, “That’s what is so hideous about this case. No one could save her.”

In the deal disclosed last week, the Susavage family agreed to a $3.15 million settlement with the Levy School Bus Co., the Trumbauersville company that was transporting the girl. The Quakertown Community School District and the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, which work together to educate students with special needs, agreed to pay a combined $475,000.

Before the settlement, U.S. District Judge James Giles had ruled that if the case went to trial, a jury could find that the school districts and bus company were “deliberately indifferent” to the girl.

Giles faulted the school district, intermediate unit and bus company for not properly training the driver. The bus driver had done several things wrong in the way he put the harness on the girl, including putting it on backward with the zipper against her throat.

His ruling has heightened the awareness of bus companies and school districts about the level of care they must maintain in transporting students.

The girl’s death also has prompted a Pennsylvania state senator to fight for a law requiring better supervision on school buses for children with disabilities.

Cynthia Susavage was born in 1993 with Batten syndrome, a fatal neurologic condition marked by mental impairment and a loss of vision and coordination. Her condition continued to worsen as she grew older.

As she prepared to attend a preschool program, her parents, Scott and Stephanie Susavage, the school district and intermediate unit discussed how to transport her. Some school officials concluded that she needed a one-on-one assistant on the bus or a special car seat. A wheelchair also was considered.

So Quakertown decided on a harness, which was provided by the intermediate unit.

On Dec. 11, 1998, the first day the harness was used, the driver attached it to the girl and drove away. It was a four-point harness which, unlike a five-point harness, lacks a strap restraint that goes between the legs to prevent someone from sliding downward.

She traveled to school unsupervised for 20 minutes. During that time, she was strangled by the harness and later found unconscious.

She died nine months later after being in a coma part of that time.

Giles, the chief federal judge for eastern Pennsylvania, concluded that the likelihood of injuries to the girl was “foreseeable.” The intermediate unit had “specific knowledge” of the potential danger, he wrote in a January 2002 decision.

He blamed the intermediate unit for not testing the harness before it was used and not providing an assistant to ride with the girl until a long-term solution was found.

In court papers, the intermediate unit tried to put the blame entirely on the bus company. ButGilesblamedtheintermediateunit as well because t should have known that the bus company was not qualified to use the harness. A reasonable jury could conclude that it was “obvious” the bus company needed special training, he wrote.

New Hampshire lawyer Dean Eggert called the ruling a ‘benchmark.” School transportation managers have been looking at Giles’ ruling, deciding whether their policies and practices are up to its standards, Eggert said.

Attorney Burns talks about the case at seminars not only because of the strong ruling but also because she knows people will remember it. It’s one of the most shocking school transportation cases she’s seen.

The school officials had enough time to make the right decision, she said. “This was preventable -- that’s the point.”

In March, at a national conference on transporting students with disabilities, Burns was the moderator of a session called “Lessons from the Susavage Fatality.”

According to Burns, a key point of the case is that when school districts delegate responsibilities to contractors, the districts retain significant legal responsibility, she said. They need to provide effective training to all individuals involved in special education programs, including bus contractors, bus drivers and bus aides, she said.

She emphasized that what she knows about the case came from Giles’ ruling. And because the case didn’t go to trial, Giles had to rely on pretrial depositions to make his decision. As required by law, he said he viewed the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs.

James Newcomer, an assistant superintendent for the Quakertown Community School District, said Cynthia’s death prompted the intermediate unit and school district to do more training for personnel involved in transporting students.

“Schools are facing the challenge of transporting an increasing number of students with fragile health or complicated disabilities and, of course, we need to do it safely,” he said.

Pauline Gervais, director of transportation for a large suburban Denver school district, said the case has had a similar impact in her district.

Listening to drivers was one lesson, she said. “If they have a concern, we need to investigate it immediately and not wait.”

Another lesson is making sure drivers working for the district’s private contractors have the same training as drivers employed by district, she said. That’s going beyond what Colorado law requires.

“I just hope we would all learn from that case,” she said, “to do everything in our power to not let it happen again.”

Since Cynthia’s death, state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R- Montgomery, has twice introduced a bill to make trips to school safer for children with disabilities.

The bill, which is pending in the Senate Education Committee, would require that aides be on school buses to monitor children with disabilities. It also would require the aides and drivers be trained in using seating devices. Some school buses in Pennsylvania already have aides on them but on a voluntary basis.

Greenleaf said it’ll take some work to educate fellow legislators about the need for the law. “We’re going to demonstrate that the money is worth it because lives are at stake,” he said. He did not have an estimate of how much it would cost districts.

The settlement will be paid for only partly with local tax money.

The insurance company for the Quakertown district agreed to pay $225,000, with an additional $25,000 -- the deductible --coming from the district. The intermediate unit’s insurance company agreed to pay $200,000, with the intermediate unit also paying a $25,000 deductible.

The defendants denied any wrongdoing in the settlement.

The parties finalized the settlement in December 2002. But the full details were not released until last week after The Morning Call filed a formal request, citing the Pennsylvania Open Records Law.

The parties had agreed in writing to keep the settlement secret. In addition, Giles sealed court records containing the settlement details.

The Susavage family could not be reached for comment. Representatives of the Levy School Bus Co. declined to comment. And lawyer Charles Sweet, representing the school district and intermediate unit, said he advised his clients to not comment about the settlement -- even after the settlement disclosures -- because of the privacy provisions.

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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
People: Susavage, Cynthia, Burns, Lawyer Peggy, Giles, James
Document types: LOCAL
Section: NATIONAL
Text Word Count 1285