SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla.,None — The Seminole County School Board is deciding Tuesday, if it will settle another lawsuit from another special education student who said he was abused by former teacher, Kathleen Garrett.
Kathleen Garrett was convicted in 2007 of physically abusing an autistic student, but dozens more said they were abused too.
This will make the 14th civil case the school board has had to settle with Garrett's former students, who said the district didn't do enough to protect them from her.
The lawsuits have cost millions. Kathy Garrett's time in Seminole County schools has cost the district more than $2 million in settlement payouts to her victims.
The last of those settlements will be finalized, ending a painful chapter. At her child abuse trial three years ago Kathy Garrett demonstrated how she pinned down one of her disabled students when he wouldn't behave.
Garrett got three years probation, but many other victims came forward, such as Melonie Weighill's autistic son, who Garrett taught in the mid-90s. She said the effects lingered.
"He asks me if she's still in jail and I always tell him ‘Yes.' She's not, but I don't want him to know she's not because he's still concerned about that," Weighill said.
Weighill never sued the district, but many others did.
In court, Garrett claimed she was just trying to subdue difficult students.
"He would pinch. He would bite," Garrett stated in court.
But parents said it was abuse.
School district attorney Ned Julian said 15 students filed 14 different lawsuits over Garrett's conduct, for total settlements worth $3.4 million.
The district itself paid about $2 million of that, and insurance companies covered the rest.
"The approval of the settlement tonight is the last settlement of the Garrett cases," Julian said.
Garrett didn't answer her door Tuesday when WFTV tried to talk to her.
After more than 20 years in the classroom, she's been barred from teaching and working with kids. To Weighill, that matters more than the settlement payouts.
"She can't teach again, and that was our biggest thing. We didn't want her near children. The school district's attorney says," Weighill said.
Settling the cases often makes more sense than trying them and risking a huge jury verdict.
One of Garrett's family members called WFTV Tuesday, but hung up once reporter George Spencer told her what the story was about.