A school district in western Iowa has agreed to pay $4.8 million to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died when she could not escape a school bus fire.
The family of Megan Klindt, the happy-go-lucky sophomore who died alongside bus driver Donnie Hendricks on Dec. 12, 2017, said the Riverside Community School District ignored warnings about Hendricks’ driving.
They sued in 2018 on the grounds of negligence and wrongful death.
The settlement agreement, approved by the school board last month, includes no admission of liability. It will be paid out through two district insurance policies.
“The parties recognize that no amount of money can represent this loss,” a statement from the district reads. “However, the district’s sincere hope is that resolving this matter will assist the family and community in gaining closure for this devastating event.”
Riverside is also in the process of implementing a new transportation plan.
Court documents show that in the months before the fire in rural Pottawattamie County, several parents and community members complained about Hendricks’ driving.
Two parents pulled their kids from the bus Hendricks drove in the fall of 2017. One said he backed over a support cable on a power pole near their driveway on the first day of school. Another thought he was going to run into her car one foggy morning.
Weeks before the accident, he even hit the superintendent’s car with his personal vehicle in the school parking lot during a girls basketball game, the school board secretary said in a legal deposition. The superintendent told her he had to “get him out of the bus before he kills somebody,” she told attorneys.
Hendricks, 74, was a well-known and well-liked employee and sports booster in the Riverside Community School District. But concerns were mounting about his health and driving ability.
“I hope in writing to you and contacting the bus barn that a solution can be found before anything terrible happens,” one parent wrote in an email to Superintendent Timothy Mitchell in October 2017. “I like Donnie very much and hate that it has to come to this, but I feel like it’s in his best interest as well.”
A jury trial had been scheduled to start March 3 in Pottawattamie County District Court.
“Megan’s family, as well as numerous witnesses and other community members, will continue to be haunted by the knowledge that her death could have easily been prevented if the numerous documented complaints and concerns of Riverside parents had been heeded by the school superintendent and transportation supervisor,” Brad Schroeder, an attorney for the Klindts, said in a statement.
Megan and Hendricks were the only two on the bus when it caught fire near Oakland, Iowa, after backing into a ditch. As the bus burned in front of Megan’s mother, Natalie Klindt, neither was able to get off the bus.
In their lawsuit, the family alleged that the school district knew that Hendricks was in poor health — he was scheduled to undergo back surgery just days after the fire — and had fielded complaints about his driving.
In a deposition, Mitchell said that before Hendricks went on leave for back surgery, the district had begun to explore whether he could be fired or persuaded to resign or retire.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the accident, could not determine why the two were unable to escape from the burning bus.
But in interviews with federal officials, some bus drivers speculated that Megan wouldn’t have left the driver alone. Her body was found next to the driver’s seat.
Investigators said several school employees mentioned Hendricks’ limited mobility. He often walked with a cane and sometimes a walker.
“However, the family (of Hendricks) denies that the driver’s back problems affected his ability to operate a motor vehicle,” an investigator’s report said. “The driver’s deteriorating physical condition was noted by several co-workers and the principal of the local high school.”
Schroeder said school officials should have acted quickly and taken Hendricks off the road.
The Klindts “want justice, they want accountability,” he said. “What happened was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened.”
One woman sent an email to Mitchell, the superintendent, two weeks before the bus fire, saying a friend had witnessed a bus driver running through stop signs.
“When it comes to our kids’ safety, we shouldn’t wait weeks for something to get done because we are short on bus drivers,” she wrote.
Close
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A school district in western Iowa has agreed to pay $4.8 million to the family of a 16-year-old girl who died when she could not escape a school bus fire.
The family of Megan Klindt, the happy-go-lucky sophomore who died alongside bus driver Donnie Hendricks on Dec. 12, 2017, said the Riverside Community School District ignored warnings about Hendricks’ driving.
They sued in 2018 on the grounds of negligence and wrongful death.
The settlement agreement, approved by the school board last month, includes no admission of liability. It will be paid out through two district insurance policies.
“The parties recognize that no amount of money can represent this loss,” a statement from the district reads. “However, the district’s sincere hope is that resolving this matter will assist the family and community in gaining closure for this devastating event.”
Riverside is also in the process of implementing a new transportation plan.
Court documents show that in the months before the fire in rural Pottawattamie County, several parents and community members complained about Hendricks’ driving.
Two parents pulled their kids from the bus Hendricks drove in the fall of 2017. One said he backed over a support cable on a power pole near their driveway on the first day of school. Another thought he was going to run into her car one foggy morning.
Weeks before the accident, he even hit the superintendent’s car with his personal vehicle in the school parking lot during a girls basketball game, the school board secretary said in a legal deposition. The superintendent told her he had to “get him out of the bus before he kills somebody,” she told attorneys.
Hendricks, 74, was a well-known and well-liked employee and sports booster in the Riverside Community School District. But concerns were mounting about his health and driving ability.
“I hope in writing to you and contacting the bus barn that a solution can be found before anything terrible happens,” one parent wrote in an email to Superintendent Timothy Mitchell in October 2017. “I like Donnie very much and hate that it has to come to this, but I feel like it’s in his best interest as well.”
A jury trial had been scheduled to start March 3 in Pottawattamie County District Court.
“Megan’s family, as well as numerous witnesses and other community members, will continue to be haunted by the knowledge that her death could have easily been prevented if the numerous documented complaints and concerns of Riverside parents had been heeded by the school superintendent and transportation supervisor,” Brad Schroeder, an attorney for the Klindts, said in a statement.
Megan and Hendricks were the only two on the bus when it caught fire near Oakland, Iowa, after backing into a ditch. As the bus burned in front of Megan’s mother, Natalie Klindt, neither was able to get off the bus.
In their lawsuit, the family alleged that the school district knew that Hendricks was in poor health — he was scheduled to undergo back surgery just days after the fire — and had fielded complaints about his driving.
In a deposition, Mitchell said that before Hendricks went on leave for back surgery, the district had begun to explore whether he could be fired or persuaded to resign or retire.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the accident, could not determine why the two were unable to escape from the burning bus.
But in interviews with federal officials, some bus drivers speculated that Megan wouldn’t have left the driver alone. Her body was found next to the driver’s seat.
Investigators said several school employees mentioned Hendricks’ limited mobility. He often walked with a cane and sometimes a walker.
“However, the family (of Hendricks) denies that the driver’s back problems affected his ability to operate a motor vehicle,” an investigator’s report said. “The driver’s deteriorating physical condition was noted by several co-workers and the principal of the local high school.”
Schroeder said school officials should have acted quickly and taken Hendricks off the road.
The Klindts “want justice, they want accountability,” he said. “What happened was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened.”
One woman sent an email to Mitchell, the superintendent, two weeks before the bus fire, saying a friend had witnessed a bus driver running through stop signs.
“When it comes to our kids’ safety, we shouldn’t wait weeks for something to get done because we are short on bus drivers,” she wrote.
Close
Rosemary Holeman was an avid traveler, visiting China in 2006. The onetime host of an Omaha children’s TV program died at home Jan. 3. Read more
Longtime prosecutor Gary Lacey helped create a care center for child victims of assault and violence in Lincoln and Lancaster County. Lacey died Jan. 2 at the age of 77. Read more
Mark E. Horwich, 51, was on duty with the Clover-Roane Volunteer Fire Department of West Virginia when he was killed Jan. 11 in a crash en route to a structure fire near the town of Newton. Horwich was alone in a firetruck that went off the road and crashed, said Adam Smith, the assistant fire chief with the department. Horwich was a former captain with the Boys Town Volunteer Fire Department. Read more
Mark Lambrecht and his wife, Kristi, started working from their basement, then from their garage, then, finally, from a building in downtown Omaha, turning Lambrecht Glass Studio Inc. Into a company that did projects for St. Vincent de Paul Church, the Cloisters on the Platte and the Holy Family Shrine.
Lambrecht died Jan. 14 after a yearlong battle with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 67. Read more
If a measure of one’s life was taken in days, Jimmy Smith got fewer than average. He died Jan. 15 at age 65.
If a measure was taken in wealth, the retired U.S. Postal Service worker who put in 33 years wouldn’t crack the upper tiers of American society.
But if that measure were taken in lives changed, then the former youth coach would break the scale. If you needed it, Jimmy gave it to you. Read more
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Omaha real estate developer Millard Roy Seldin was just 12 when he first demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit. He bought a bike paid for with money he earned selling magazines door to door. He then used that bike to do more paper routes and earn more money. Years later, while in college, Seldin used those skills and work ethic to help his father, Ben Seldin, form the homebuilding company Seldin and Seldin.
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Officer Aaron Hanson, Falco’s handler on the job and his chauffeur in retirement, called The World-Herald on Jan. 28 to say the 14-year-old canine crime fighter was being put to sleep. Falco had developed a brain tumor that was causing him to suffer as he experienced an increasing number of seizures. Read more
Frank Bemis, who served as Douglas County assessor for 24 years before retiring to work in the real estate and insurance businesses, died Feb. 14. Read more
Rosemary Holeman was an avid traveler, visiting China in 2006. The onetime host of an Omaha children’s TV program died at home Jan. 3. Read more
Longtime prosecutor Gary Lacey helped create a care center for child victims of assault and violence in Lincoln and Lancaster County. Lacey died Jan. 2 at the age of 77. Read more
Mark E. Horwich, 51, was on duty with the Clover-Roane Volunteer Fire Department of West Virginia when he was killed Jan. 11 in a crash en route to a structure fire near the town of Newton. Horwich was alone in a firetruck that went off the road and crashed, said Adam Smith, the assistant fire chief with the department. Horwich was a former captain with the Boys Town Volunteer Fire Department. Read more
Mark Lambrecht and his wife, Kristi, started working from their basement, then from their garage, then, finally, from a building in downtown Omaha, turning Lambrecht Glass Studio Inc. Into a company that did projects for St. Vincent de Paul Church, the Cloisters on the Platte and the Holy Family Shrine.
Lambrecht died Jan. 14 after a yearlong battle with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 67. Read more
If a measure of one’s life was taken in days, Jimmy Smith got fewer than average. He died Jan. 15 at age 65.
If a measure was taken in wealth, the retired U.S. Postal Service worker who put in 33 years wouldn’t crack the upper tiers of American society.
But if that measure were taken in lives changed, then the former youth coach would break the scale. If you needed it, Jimmy gave it to you. Read more
During his 38 years at Benson High School, Alfred “Fred” Pisasale was one of the school’s most popular teachers. Pisasale, a 1946 Central High School graduate who wrestled and played tennis at Omaha University, died Jan. 22 after a brief illness. He was 91. Read more
Omaha real estate developer Millard Roy Seldin was just 12 when he first demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit. He bought a bike paid for with money he earned selling magazines door to door. He then used that bike to do more paper routes and earn more money. Years later, while in college, Seldin used those skills and work ethic to help his father, Ben Seldin, form the home building company Seldin and Seldin.
Millard Roy Seldin, a native of Council Bluffs, died on Jan. 24 at age 93 in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Read more
Officer Aaron Hanson, Falco’s handler on the job and his chauffeur in retirement, called The World-Herald on Jan. 28 to say the 14-year-old canine crime fighter was being put to sleep. Falco had developed a brain tumor that was causing him to suffer as he experienced an increasing number of seizures. Read more
Frank Bemis, who served as Douglas County assessor for 24 years before retiring to work in the real estate and insurance businesses, died Feb. 14. Read more
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