The state has agreed to make two dozen improvements to school safety at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind as part of a $5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit that alleged years of sexual abuse of students at the Kapahulu campus.
The lawsuit, filed in 2011 by Honolulu attorney Michael Green, alleged that a group of students "bullied, terrorized, assaulted, robbed, sodomized (and) raped" younger students at the school. It also claimed that school employees and state Department of Education officials knew of the assaults but looked the other way for years.
Named in the lawsuit along with the DOE were the school’s longtime principal, Sydney Dickerson, and Scott O’Neal, identified as a school counselor in the suit. O’Neal is required to pay $750,000 as part of the deal.
Under the settlement, the state has agreed to make a number of improvements at the public school that serves students in kindergarten through the 12th grade and is the only school in the state for deaf and blind students.
For example, the DOE has agreed to improve student safety on school buses, where some of the alleged assaults took place. Proposed changes include training for bus drivers and aides as well as looking at possibly installing cameras on buses.
The school also will need to assess whether existing security cameras on the campus are installed in the most effective locations and whether broken ones need to be repaired or replaced.
The agreement requires the state to also work with the Sex Abuse Treatment Center to address bullying and harassment through the school’s curriculum.
It’s unclear how much the improvements will cost the DOE. Some of the agreed-upon changes cite cost-effectiveness as a factor for implementation.
A Department of Education spokeswoman referred comment to the state attorney general’s office.
Anne Lopez, spokeswoman for the attorney general, said she was not prepared to make a statement or comment Monday.
The settlement says that the agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by the defendants.
The monetary damages portion of the settlement covers students who were enrolled at the school between August 2001 and last week’s approval of the settlement, and who suffered injury as a result of one of the following:
» A sexual assault or a coerced sexual encounter on the school grounds or on a school bus.
» A sexual encounter involving a staff member.
» Witnessing a sexual assault or a coerced encounter involving another student on the school grounds or on a school bus or a sexual encounter involving a staff member and a student.
The lawsuit said as many as 35 students were believed to have been sexually abused.
A claims administrator will distribute funds within three tiers of classes — $20,000, $75,000 and $200,000 — according to the settlement.
"These amounts are the minimum amounts and may be increased at the sole discretion of the claims administrator," the settlement said. Compensation in the top two tier classes will require "additional information regarding the severity, duration and impact upon the individual."
The state’s $5 million portion of the settlement still needs approval from the Legislature.
