The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has asked a federal judge to oversee the distribution of $700,000 among families whose children were killed or injured in a March 27 school bus crash in Carroll County. The district contends that the sum represents the full amount it can be required to pay under Tennessee law for the deaths and injuries combined.
The complaint, filed Oct. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, uses a legal procedure known as an interpleader. Through that filing, the school system is seeking to place the money under the court’s control and have a judge determine how to allocate it. The district says it will deposit the funds with the court without admitting liability.
The district bases its proposed payment on the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act. It argues that the law caps its total liability for the crash at $700,000, rather than providing that amount for each child. According to the complaint, claims could exceed that sum, and competing lawsuits by families could produce inconsistent judgments. The school system wants the federal court to coordinate the distribution.
Parents and guardians of the children killed and injured are named in the lawsuit, along with Priority Ambulance and three insurers. The insurance companies listed are Mountain Laurel Assurance, GEICO Indemnity Company and Erie Insurance Exchange. The complaint asks the judge to decide who should receive money from the proposed fund and how much each should receive.
The crash occurred while students were traveling on a field trip aboard a bus driven by school district employee Sabrina Ducksworth. Two students, Zoe Davis and Ariana Pearson, died, and 22 others were injured. The complaint identifies the two children who died by their initials, Z.D. and A.P.
The interpleader filing does not address the cause of the crash or assign responsibility. It also leaves unanswered whether the school system has excess or umbrella insurance that could make additional money available. The complaint does not specify the damages sought by the families or disclose whether any settlement agreements have been reached.
Separate legal proceedings have also followed the crash. In September, a Carroll County grand jury indicted Ducksworth on charges of failure to exercise due care and driving on roadways laned for traffic. Court documents show that jurors did not charge her with vehicular homicide.
In June, the school system denied liability in another lawsuit brought by John and Jessica Davis. In that case, the district argued that Ducksworth unexpectedly lost consciousness immediately before the crash because of a stroke, cardiovascular failure or another medical event.
