A Readfield family will settle their lawsuit against Regional School Unit 38 and their daughter’s fifth-grade teacher, who allegedly put a paper bag on top of the girl’s head in front of her classmates at Readfield Elementary School, for $95,000, according to court documents.
The family will receive about $5,500 for past expenses for counseling and the girl’s computer and education costs. About $9,500 will be deposited into a trust account for the girl’s future counseling and educational expenses.
The remainder of the the money, about $80,000, will go to pay attorneys’ fees and costs.
A federal judge still must sign off on the settlement before it will be final.
Michelle and Adam Woodford of Readfield sued the school district and former teacher Laura Reville of Vienna in U.S. District Court in Bangor on Dec. 30, 2016. The couple sued on behalf of their daughter, who will enter the seventh grade this fall.
Between September and November 2015 Reville made the child, then 10, put the paper bag on her head four times “with the intent to humiliate and embarrass [her] and/or in reckless disregard of [her] emotional and personal health,” according to the suit. The suit did not establish a specific reason for the teacher’s alleged actions.
Portland attorney John Wall, who represents Reville, said that his client “denied wrongdoing in this case and continues to do so” but did not deny putting bag on the girl’s head.
The district’s lawyer, Bruce Smith of Portland, on Friday described the incidents as “an unfortunate and misguided attempt to be humorous.”
“School officials promptly investigated the incident and imposed appropriate consequences,” Smith said. “We are confident that they followed all laws and policies and acted in the best interest of the student, and that the RSU and its administrators are at no risk of liability in this case.”
The Woodfords’ attorney, Seth Brewster of Portland, said his clients believed their daughter was bullied by her teacher.
“Bullying is an important issue in the education of our children — regardless of whether it is student-to-student or teacher-to-student conduct,” the Woodfords said in a statement. “This situation provided a teachable moment about bullying in the schools. We brought this action to get answers to our questions about the school’s investigation into these incidents. We also brought this action to, we hope, make sure that no other child has to suffer through what our daughter endured.”
RSU 38 is made up of the towns of Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne.