SPS Legal News

First up, the lawsuit brought by a former student of Seattle Schools who attended Queen Anne High in the late 60s. She alleges that a custodian and a teacher sexually abused her. 

I had wondered out loud if there were some statute of limitations since this case was from so long ago. I found a helpful law office website that says this:

If a survivor was abused as a child before that date and is now an adult over the age of 18, Washington’s statute gives them three years to file a civil childhood sexual abuse action from:The time of the act itself; 

 

The time the survivor should have discovered that an injury or condition was caused by the act;
The time the survivor discovered that the act caused the injuries or conditions for which they are suing. 

The “act” can be the abuse itself or an organization’s failure to protect them from abuse. This means in Washington State, you can sue for childhood sexual abuse many years, or even decades, after the abuse occurred. The clock starts running from the moment a survivor connects the injury to the abuse. 

Here is a hypothetical example: An adult woman in her early 30s decides to seek treatment for lifelong anxiety, recurring depression and chronic sexual dysfunction. During therapy she recalls a repressed memory of being raped as a child at church. Even though the act happened decades ago, the statute of limitations clock for lawsuits against her abuser begins running when the woman recalls the rape and connects it to her mental health problems. 

The same rule applies if someone remembers childhood abuse but tries to suppress it until years later as an adult they realize it is causing ongoing mental health problems that can no longer be ignored. 

Finally, the same rule applies if someone knows they were abused as a child—for example, by a teacher, coach, priest, or foster parent—but discovers as an adult that an organization—like a school, sports team or league, church, or the State of Washington— had the responsibility to protect children from abuse, failed to take steps to protect them from abuse, or ignored “red flags” about their abuser. The statute of limitations clock on lawsuits against the organization only begins to run when a survivor discovers how the organization failed them.

Basically, if you, as an adult, realize that some of your life challenges are because of childhood sexual abuse, you can sue the entity that was supposed to be protecting you.




Next, the newly elected members of the Board will be given the oath of office tomorrow, December 3rd at 4:30 pm. After taking the oath, each new member will be given the opportunity to give some remarks.

The meeting will be live streamed on SPSTV and broadcast on television on Comcast 26 (standard-def) and 319 (hi-def), Wave 26 (standard-def) and 695 (hi-def), and Century Link 8008 (standard-def) and 8508 (hi-def). To listen by phone, dial 206-800-4125 and use Conference ID 363 816 448#.

Then the new members first task will be sitting through an exciting "Progress Monitoring" on Early Literacy as well as one on "Baseline Performance" for math.

An issue has been raised by a couple of readers that The Seattle Times is planning a Zoom meeting for their readers with the four new directors next week. It is supposed to happen on Monday, December 8th from 6:30-7:30 pm. But more than 3 members together is a quorum and this is not a social event (where they could avoid talking district issues). So can all four be in a meeting together talking district issues? I have made some inquiries.




It's a hung jury for the criminal trial of a former Garfield High volunteer coach who is alleged to have repeatedly raped a female student. From The Seattle Times:

Walter Jones, 48, is charged with two counts of rape of a child in the second degree and two counts of rape of a child in the third degree. If convicted, he could face up to 23 years in prison, according to a spokesperson at the King County prosecuting attorney’s office. 

A spokesperson for the prosecution said Tuesday attorneys will meet to discuss next steps, but declined to provide additional details, citing professional conduct rules that prohibit comments that could influence future juries.

To note, this is a criminal trial that would put Jones in jail. The civil lawsuit the former student brought against SPS resulted in a $16M settlement which, according to the Times, is the largest in SPS history.