School district officials have recommended that the Palm Beach County School Board approve an offer of $200,000 to teenager Reyna Francisco, who jumped off the back of a school bus and was injured in a February 2001 incident. Francisco and a friend “had been fighting with another student earlier that day. They pushed through the bus emergency exit and jumped because they were afraid they were being taken back to school to be punished.” District officials have recommended paying a settlement rather than taking chances before a jury on Francisco’s suit charging negligent hiring and supervision of the bus driver, although neither the district nor Florida Highway Patrol investigators blame the driver for the jump. (Marc Freeman, “School Board may give $200,000 to Lake Worth teen who jumped off school bus”, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Mar. 10).

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