Family, St. Lucie school district negotiate settlement in boy’s bus death

March 17--TALLAHASSEE -- Aaron Beauchamp's mother is back at the negotiating table to determine how much the St. Lucie County School District should pay for her 9-year-old son's death in a 2012 school bus crash, according to a lawmaker championing her cause.

The negotiations prompted an 11th-hour postponement of Thursday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on Rep. Cord Byrd's bill that would require the district to pay Lillian Beauchamp $8.7 million. That's the amount a judge awarded the family in 2015 after a jury found the district was mostly at fault in the school bus collision with a tractor trailer.

Byrd said he wanted to give Beauchamp and the district time to settle before his bill is heard again. State law requires legislative approval when a government entity is required to pay more than $300,000 in damages.

"Within minutes of me walking into the committee I was notified they are talking," Byrd said. "They are trying to reach an acceptable agreement for both parties."

WORTHY CAUSE

The district reached the cap when it paid the families of other children hurt in the crash, leaving the Beauchamps with nothing from the district, according to the bill.

The district has argued it exhausted its insurance money to pay the other families. Any payments to the Beauchamps would come from its operating budget and have a "devastating effect on the school district's operating ability," a legislative report stated. The district didn't return a request for comment.

Although Byrd, a Duval County Republican, doesn't represent St. Lucie County, he said he filed HB 6529 after a Beauchamp family representative approached him.

"I read the story and met the family and decided it was a cause I wanted to champion on their behalf," he said.

Aaron was the only one of nearly 30 children who died after the school bus he was on crashed with a tractor trailer, causing his seat to break and throwing him against the ceiling.

AT FAULT

The jury found the school district was 87 percent to blame because bus driver Albert Hazen turned from Okeechobee Road onto Midway Road without stopping at the intersection. Although he received a ticket, no criminal charges were filed.

The jury found the trucking company was 13 percent to blame because its driver was speeding and the tractor trailer's brakes weren't up to standard.

The district has argued the school bus manufacturer also is at fault for the seat design. A legislative report recommended the amount awarded to the Beauchamps be reduced by $1 million to account for the manufacturer's negligence.

The Beauchamps entered into a confidential settlement with the manufacturer and a $575,000 settlement with the trucking company, according to the legislative report.

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