According to an article in The Ledger, Polk County schools expect to see an increase in the filing of lawsuits because a cap on lawsuit damages will be raised by law on October 1. The cap on damage awards was $100,000 and will increase to $200,000. The county school district employs more people than any other entity in Polk County with 13,000 employees overseeing 93,000 students.
What kinds of lawsuits are they bracing against? Anything from a fender bender with a school bus, a slip and fall, also known as premises liability, an auto accident on school property, or an injury during physical education class. The district tells the paper about 25 lawsuits are filed every year and settlements come out of the general fund which is generated from property taxes.
The school district claims that the $740,500 paid out in 2010 to settle individual claims could have been better spent on the classroom. At the same time the district is receiving $13.5 million less from the general fund in 2011 t [...]
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