District to pay $2.5 million to family of student who died
The estate of Bowen Levy and the Anne Arundel County Board of Education have entered into a consent decree under which the system will pay $2.5 million, implement a safety protocol geared toward children with a specific form of autism and provide special education staffing data to the family of a student who died after choking on a glove at school.
Bowen, 17, of Annapolis, was a Central Special School student who died after swallowing a rubber glove. Bowen was diagnosed with autism as well as pica, a disorder that involves eating of nonfood items.
In a lawsuit, his family said the school system was aware of Bowen’s pica and failed to provide one-on-one supervision it promised.
“The consent decree addresses the chronic staffing shortages in special education and lack of supervision which led to Bowen’s tragic and unnecessary death. The Levy Family filed this suit to make sure no other child is placed at risk like Bowen was,” Tim Maloney, Bryan and Tanya Levy’s attorney, said in a statement. “They will work vigorously to enforce the consent decree to make sure special education programs in the county are properly staffed and supervised and safe for all children.”
The family’s Bowen Foundation for Autism distributes grants that pay for equipment, therapy and medical treatment through Arc of the Chesapeake. The foundation has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the settlement gives it the ability to make sure the foundation continues, Brian Levy said Thursday.
Bowen was a kind, gentle spirit, his father said.
“He was a special kid in every sense of the word. There is no solace in this suit at all, as far as him being gone,” Bryan Levy said. “We felt a responsibility to the other children that are in the same situation.”
Levy said it is also important that the consent decree mandates transparency from the system when it comes to classroom vacancies.
“The bigger piece for us was making sure that these children were never going to be put in the situation Bowen was put in,” he said.
The Maryland Department of Social Services found Bowen’s death likely involved child neglect. DSS reported Bowen died as a result of a systemic failure at the school.
Maloney said his clients and the school board signed a consent decree Wednesday,
settling the lawsuit in federal court. It states the parties “agree that there has been no adjudication as to the merits of any of the claims,” but agreed to settle the suit, and the agreement “should in no way be considered as evidence of guilt or liability that [the Board of Education] has violated the law in any way.”
The consent decree lasts for three years. As part of the agreement, the system published a statement by Board President Joanna Tobin and Superintendent George Arlotto.
“Bowen’s classroom at Central Special was understaffed at the time the afternoon incident took place on November 5, 2019. Bowen’s teacher was on leave for the afternoon and two of the Temporary Support Assistants (TSAs) who regularly provided supervision for Bowen and the other students in the class were assisting another student in a different area of the building. A third TSA was absent. A permanent, building-based substitute assumed the role of teacher in the afternoon and two high school student volunteers were present.”
Earlier in the day, a staff member took a glove from Bowen’s mouth, the statement said. Staff members are in constant need of gloves, and gloves remained where Bowen could see them.
“We believe that is how Bowen accessed the glove that he swallowed later in the day,” the statement said.
The system agreed to implement the safety protocol and provide training to staff who work with a student with pica. Workers will inspect areas that students with pica frequent to ensure nonedible items are out of reach and will lock cabinets, closets and doors. Staff will provide one-on-one supervision of a student with pica.
The school system also will report special education substitute staff vacancy data to the Levys regularly, who will share that information with the county’s Special Education Citizen Advisory.
“He was a special kid in every sense of the word. There is no solace in this suit at all, as far as him being gone. We felt a responsibility to ... children that are in the same situation.”
—Bryan Levy, father of Bowen, who died after choking on a glove at school