KHSD paid $11.7M in legal settlements last year

Jan. 16--The Kern High School District and its insurers paid more than $11.7 million last year to settle legal disputes over a wide range of issues, from special education students alleging they received inadequate education to somebody struck by a district vehicle, according to settlements reviewed by The Californian.

That includes $10.5 million paid to settle a lawsuit brought by former student Mitch Carter, who while wearing a chicken costume during a 2010 Bakersfield High School pep rally was badly hurt when a crowd of kids turned violent and mobbed him.

The district settled 17 other disputes for amounts totaling $1.1 million, according to settlement agreements obtained by The Californian through the California Public Records Act. Those settlements range from $296.95 to $830,000.

The median settlement was $6,513. Four of those cases involving special education students were settled for a median of $15,293.

"That's exactly what I'd expect the settlement range to be for special education," said attorney Ralph Wegis, who represented Carter this year and has represented special education students in the past.

Without looking at the facts of each case, Wegis said he didn't think the amount the district settled for were egregious for an organization of KHSD's size.

Wegis represented an autistic Independence High School student who in 2014 was sexually assaulted by another student. The district offered him a $75,000 settlement, but jurors awarded $1.5 million at trial.

The district's four special ed settlements included one agreement that provided $40,000 cash, plus another $140,000 to be set aside in a compensatory education fund for approved education expenses. A lawyer representing that student declined to comment on the matter, citing the sensitivity of the dispute.

"Damages are so pervasive when it's imposed on a special education student," Wegis said. "They were, I think, probably very fortunate that they got those cases settled."

The $830,000 was paid to 60-year-old Oswaldo Soto, who was broadsided in a 2013 collision with a KHSD grounds equipment operator driving a district trash truck, according to Soto's attorney, Doug Shaffer.

Soto racked up about $600,000 in medical bills, according to documents filed in Kern County Superior Court.

"It had a huge impact, and my guy wound up having a major neck surgery and there was no dispute -- he had to have it," Shaffer said.

The lion's share of settlements last year were for less than $10,000. Last week, the board voted to give Superintendent Bryon Schaefer the discretion to settle any case for less than that amount as long as its insurance company, Keenan and Associates, would cover it. The board must still ratify his decision.

Meanwhile, the district's insurance premium has increased almost 8 percent, to $2.2 million, from 2015-2016 to 2016-2017, according to a district report delivered to the board in December.

That's tied to an increase in the frequency and severity of liability claims filed against all the public agencies with which KHSD is pooled, Deputy Superintendent of Business Scott Cole said.

Since 2015, when the district switched insurance providers, it has processed 142 claims totaling $1.3 million, Cole said, but still has another $3.1 million in open claims.

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