Cherry Creek School District to pay $11.5 million to 5 students who were sexually assaulted by a teacher
District failed to address early complaints about former Prairie Middle School teacher Brian Vasquez
By Noelle Phillips | nphillips@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: |September 24, 2018 at 1:59 pm | UPDATED: January 16, 2019 at 12:33 pm
The Cherry Creek School District will pay $11.5 million to five teenage girls who were sexually assaulted by a middle school teacher, making it one of the largest settlements in Colorado history involving a school’s failure to respond to reports of sex assault.
Arora Police Department
Brian Vasquez
The school district sent a letter to parents Monday afternoon announcing the settlement, which stems from a child sexual abuse case involving former Prairie Middle School teacher Brian Vasquez.
“We acknowledge that no amount of money can right the wrongs committed against these stuents by Mr. Vasquez,” the letter, signed by Superintendent Scott A. Siegfried, said. “No student should ever suffer the injury and loss of innocence that these young women suffered as a result of the reprehensible actions of Mr. Vasquez. The district is committed to doing right by these young women and their families and hopes this settlement brings some degree of closure so that they can move on with their lives and continue the healing process.”
Siegfried has met with each of the victims to apologize for what happened, said Abbe Smith, a spokeswoman for the school district.
However, the district did not admit liability in the settlement, which means it did not acknowledge any mistakes in how complaints against Vasquez were handled, including in 2013 when the first female middle school student reported a sexual relationship but allegedly was coerced into recanting — and then was suspended.
The school district has an insurance policy that will cover $2 million of the settlement, but the remaining $9.5 million will be paid out of the district’s budget reserves, Smith said
END OF REPORT
What the above Denver Post news report did not reviel was that the School District purchased a liability insurance policy, but “capped” the liability of the insurer at $2,000,000. This fact was reported by other news outlets.
So, if you are a taxpayer this report must give you pause. because, the questions arise:
- Why would a large organization purchase a liability policy and as part of the purchase limit the liability of the insurer to a small amount? Is this a way to save money on premium payments? Did the School District believe that other taxpayers would be “on the hook” to pay for the uninsured liability?
- Who (what taxpayers) is going to pay the 9.5 million?
- Who (what taxpayers) paid into the reserve fund that has 9.5 million?
- What Special District insurance practices are in effect state wide, and what does this mean for Evergreen taxpayers?