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Schools ignored abuse warnings for 2 decades
$3 million to be paid in teacher molesting case
By JOHN IWASAKI
P-I REPORTER
(Editor's Note: This story has been changed since it was first
published. The girl who was awarded a settlement after she was abused
had suicidal tendencies, but had not attempted suicide as indicated in
the earlier report.)
Seattle Public Schools will pay $3 million for failing to act on
dozens of warnings that a popular teacher was molesting some of his
fifth-grade students, a pattern that lasted two decades.
The most abused girl will receive $2.5 million, which her attorney
said will be the largest reported settlement paid by a school district
in Washington to a single victim in a sex-abuse case.
Under the settlement, approved Monday in King County Superior Court,
the district acknowledged negligence in failing to protect two girls
from Laurence "Shayne" Hill, 58, who has admitted to molesting at
least seven girls while teaching at Broadview-Thomson Elementary in
North Seattle.
The girls' lawyers said the district protected Hill even though at
least 15 teachers and staff members made at least 30 reports to
administrators that he was grabbing girls' buttocks and having them
sit on his lap, sometimes in darkened classrooms, since the mid-1980s.
The case was "by far the most egregious example of students being put
at risk because of the negligence and seeming deliberate disregard of
their safety by a school district," former state Superintendent of
Public Instruction Judith Billings said in court documents.
Seattle Public Schools officials acknowledged Monday that the district
should have done more to prevent Hill's "clearly inappropriate
behavior."
"We accept responsibility for the actions of our former employee,"
district spokeswoman Patti Spencer said. "Although words can only go
so far, we really express our heartfelt apology to the students and
their families."
Hill had been warned at least twice by principals to maintain
"appropriate physical boundaries" with his students. But no
administrator or teacher reported the complaints to police or to Child
Protective Services.
By law, teachers and other school personnel are required to report
suspected child abuse to one of those agencies.
The district's internal policy called for teachers to tell
administrators and let them decide what to do, said Ron Bemis, a
lawyer for the two girls along with Anne Bremner.
"Three administrators in a row did nothing with (the reports)," he
said. "They did not want to upset the school environment, not want to
make waves. ... It was that kind of disconnect. In effect, they
protected a popular teacher at the expense of 10- and 11-year-old
girls."
Hill wasn't placed on administrative leave until the mother of one of
his victims arrived at school to find him touching her daughter's
buttocks in April 2005. He later resigned.
Hill was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison in December 2005 after
pleading guilty to two counts of child molestation and two counts of
communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The mother of the more severely abused girl said it was "shameful that
it took the school district so long to admit negligence. I would
challenge any of those school principals who ignored the dozens of
teacher complaints about this man's behavior to say they would have
been so apathetic had it been their own child."
Spencer said Seattle school staff members now receive mandatory
training in preventing adult sexual misconduct and on reporting
suspected abuse.
"We've learned a lot from this experience," she said. "And we've made
our expectations very clear."
Two of the school administrators accused of failing to act on warnings
about Hill are still employed by the school district. Spencer would
not comment on whether any administrators had been disciplined in
relation to the case.
Terri Skjei, a former assistant principal and principal at Broadview-
Thomson who was named a defendant in the lawsuit, is now principal at
Viewridge Elementary. Jeanne Smart became principal at Broadview-
Thomson about a year before Hill was caught, and initiated
disciplinary action against him in October 2004. She remains at the
school.
Despite the repeated reports of inappropriate conduct by Hill,
administrators "never disciplined, never investigated, never removed
him," Bemis said.
The case differed from more typical instances of molestation, in which
the abuse is hidden and occurs less frequently, he said.
Beyond the reports they made to administrators, school employees said
in depositions that they observed "hundreds of incidents of Hill's
sexually inappropriate behavior" with girls since the mid-1980s, court
documents say.
One victim's abuse included being digitally raped by Hill, Bemis said.
The girl will be awarded $2.5 million, which Bemis said was larger
than any reported settlement paid by a school district to a single
victim of sex abuse, though confidential settlements could have exceed
that amount.
Bemis said the girl has received counseling for anxiety, depression
and suicidal tendencies.
The girl's mother will receive $250,000.
The second girl will be awarded $300,000.
About $1 million of their settlement, which was reached shortly before
the 2 1/2-year-old case was scheduled to go to trial starting March 3,
will go to lawyer fees.
$3 million to be paid in teacher molesting case
By JOHN IWASAKI
P-I REPORTER
(Editor's Note: This story has been changed since it was first
published. The girl who was awarded a settlement after she was abused
had suicidal tendencies, but had not attempted suicide as indicated in
the earlier report.)
Seattle Public Schools will pay $3 million for failing to act on
dozens of warnings that a popular teacher was molesting some of his
fifth-grade students, a pattern that lasted two decades.
The most abused girl will receive $2.5 million, which her attorney
said will be the largest reported settlement paid by a school district
in Washington to a single victim in a sex-abuse case.
Under the settlement, approved Monday in King County Superior Court,
the district acknowledged negligence in failing to protect two girls
from Laurence "Shayne" Hill, 58, who has admitted to molesting at
least seven girls while teaching at Broadview-Thomson Elementary in
North Seattle.
The girls' lawyers said the district protected Hill even though at
least 15 teachers and staff members made at least 30 reports to
administrators that he was grabbing girls' buttocks and having them
sit on his lap, sometimes in darkened classrooms, since the mid-1980s.
The case was "by far the most egregious example of students being put
at risk because of the negligence and seeming deliberate disregard of
their safety by a school district," former state Superintendent of
Public Instruction Judith Billings said in court documents.
Seattle Public Schools officials acknowledged Monday that the district
should have done more to prevent Hill's "clearly inappropriate
behavior."
"We accept responsibility for the actions of our former employee,"
district spokeswoman Patti Spencer said. "Although words can only go
so far, we really express our heartfelt apology to the students and
their families."
Hill had been warned at least twice by principals to maintain
"appropriate physical boundaries" with his students. But no
administrator or teacher reported the complaints to police or to Child
Protective Services.
By law, teachers and other school personnel are required to report
suspected child abuse to one of those agencies.
The district's internal policy called for teachers to tell
administrators and let them decide what to do, said Ron Bemis, a
lawyer for the two girls along with Anne Bremner.
"Three administrators in a row did nothing with (the reports)," he
said. "They did not want to upset the school environment, not want to
make waves. ... It was that kind of disconnect. In effect, they
protected a popular teacher at the expense of 10- and 11-year-old
girls."
Hill wasn't placed on administrative leave until the mother of one of
his victims arrived at school to find him touching her daughter's
buttocks in April 2005. He later resigned.
Hill was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison in December 2005 after
pleading guilty to two counts of child molestation and two counts of
communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The mother of the more severely abused girl said it was "shameful that
it took the school district so long to admit negligence. I would
challenge any of those school principals who ignored the dozens of
teacher complaints about this man's behavior to say they would have
been so apathetic had it been their own child."
Spencer said Seattle school staff members now receive mandatory
training in preventing adult sexual misconduct and on reporting
suspected abuse.
"We've learned a lot from this experience," she said. "And we've made
our expectations very clear."
Two of the school administrators accused of failing to act on warnings
about Hill are still employed by the school district. Spencer would
not comment on whether any administrators had been disciplined in
relation to the case.
Terri Skjei, a former assistant principal and principal at Broadview-
Thomson who was named a defendant in the lawsuit, is now principal at
Viewridge Elementary. Jeanne Smart became principal at Broadview-
Thomson about a year before Hill was caught, and initiated
disciplinary action against him in October 2004. She remains at the
school.
Despite the repeated reports of inappropriate conduct by Hill,
administrators "never disciplined, never investigated, never removed
him," Bemis said.
The case differed from more typical instances of molestation, in which
the abuse is hidden and occurs less frequently, he said.
Beyond the reports they made to administrators, school employees said
in depositions that they observed "hundreds of incidents of Hill's
sexually inappropriate behavior" with girls since the mid-1980s, court
documents say.
One victim's abuse included being digitally raped by Hill, Bemis said.
The girl will be awarded $2.5 million, which Bemis said was larger
than any reported settlement paid by a school district to a single
victim of sex abuse, though confidential settlements could have exceed
that amount.
Bemis said the girl has received counseling for anxiety, depression
and suicidal tendencies.
The girl's mother will receive $250,000.
The second girl will be awarded $300,000.
About $1 million of their settlement, which was reached shortly before
the 2 1/2-year-old case was scheduled to go to trial starting March 3,
will go to lawyer fees.
