Jefferson County Public Schools has paid a family $500,000 to resolve a claim of negligence after an autistic teenager with the mental capacity of a 3-year-old was sexually assaulted on a school bus.
The Courier Journal reported the payment citing a document obtained this month under the Kentucky Open Records Act.
The family's attorney is William McMurry and he says the assault last year was preventable. The boy's mother had requested a special-needs transportation aide to ride the bus with her son, but the district said no, according to school district emails McMurry provided.
The school district denied liability in settlement documents. District spokeswoman Allison Martin said most buses carrying special-needs students are assigned a "special-needs transportation assistant," but district policy requires them only if a student has medical needs or requires help getting on or off the bus.