Kanawha County school abuse lawsuits settled for $11.75 million

CHARLESTON — The families of special needs students abused by a teacher at Holz Elementary School have settled their civil lawsuits against her and the Kanawha County school board for a record amount.

Collectively, the seven cases settled for $11.75 million, according to the West Virginia Board of Risk & Insurance Management, which provides insurance coverage for state agencies. It is believed to be the largest settlement amount ever awarded against a county board of education. The individual settlement amounts remain under court-ordered seal.

The lawsuits were filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court against the county board of education and former teacher Nancy Boggs, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to 10 counts of misdemeanor battery.

The charges stemmed from Boggs' abuse of three special needs children in her classroom in September 2021. Video showed Boggs engaging in various forms of abuse, including hitting, hair pulling, slamming a child's head into a desk, and pulling a chair from beneath a child, causing the child to fall, HD Media previously reported.

"This court finds these offenses are brutal and malicious in nature against multiple children with exceptional needs who are among the most vulnerable in our society, and to whom the defendant was entrusted with their care and education in a public school by their families," Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers said during Boggs' sentencing.

During the sentencing, Akers also told Boggs her verbal abuse and humiliation of the children were unconscionable. Boggs made comments such as, "You're bad, nobody wants you. Mommy doesn't want you. Daddy doesn't want you. Not even God wants you."

"I don't know what on Earth would possess a person to say that to a child," Akers said. "I have no idea ... what would possess that person to say it to an exceptional child, who cannot understand, cannot communicate and is completely vulnerable."

The video evidence in the case was made possible by a bill approved by the Legislature in 2019 that required cameras in self-contained special needs classrooms. The case prompted lawmakers to further strengthen the camera law, as well as make it a felony for a teacher to abuse a student.

Kanawha County Schools officials declined to comment Tuesday, but noted previous statements in which the administration voiced its support for strengthening the state's camera laws following the Holz incidents.

"KCS staff members had multiple conversations with legislators regarding improvements to the law, many of which were adopted into our current special education camera law," KCS officials wrote in one of those statements.

Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango represented families in three of the suits. He said other states should follow West Virginia's lead by enacting similar measures to protect special needs students.

"Our Legislature has done a remarkable job over the last few years strengthening laws to protect special needs children. West Virginia is one of only a handful of states that mandates cameras in self-contained special needs classrooms," he said in an email Tuesday. "It's important for other states to follow West Virginia's example and take affirmative steps to protect these vulnerable children."

Two classroom aides, Lori Gibson and Lisa Perdue, were also fired as a result of the investigation and faced charges for failing to report the abuse in a timely fashion to the state Department of Health and Human Resources, according to previous HD Media reports. School employees are designated as mandatory reporters under state law, which means they must alert DHHR to any abuse or neglect they witness or believe to be taking place within 24 hours.

Gibson is facing trial this week, while Perdue entered into a pre-trial diversion agreement with the state, allowing her charges to be dropped after a year if she complies with the conditions of the agreement, according to court records.