The Palm Beach County School Board agreed on Wednesday to a settlement for the death of a 19-year-old autistic students, who choked on a chicken nugget in his school’s cafeteria.
The Palm Beach County School Board agreed on Wednesday to a settlement for the death of a 19-year-old Kedar Williams, who choked on a chicken nugget in his school's cafeteria.
The settlement includes $2 million to the family and also the implementation of a mandatory training program for everyone in the system who works with special-needs students, in order to prevent a repeat of the tragic incident.
According to NBC News, Williams was autistic and generally non-verbal, and also because of his condition was prone to choking on food when he ate.
Under the school system's own guidelines, an aide was supposed to be assigned to only Williams at meal time. However, camera footage showed that there was no aide attending to him at the time when he was choking, although there was an aide nearby helping another student.
"While no amount of money will ever take away the pain caused by this tragedy, the School District of Palm Beach County hopes that the settlement reached with the Williams family will help to ease the burden of this tremendous loss," said a spokesperson for the school district.
"His parents are pleased not only with the settlement, but they are most proud of the fact they fought for their son and fought for a training program designed to address the deficiencies that led to Kedar’s death," stated Sia Baker Barns, an attorney representing the Williams family.
Said Williams's mother, Megan Williams:
"Having your son wave goodbye to you in the morning, before school, and then never seeing him alive again is a mother’s worst nightmare. Our family has a gaping hole without Kedar in our lives,"
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