gloucester

Lawsuit Against Gloucester School System Alleges Abuse

Editor Amber Howle

On January 22, a lawsuit was filed in Gloucester Circuit Court against Gloucester County Schools, alleges that fifth grader Blake Piersanti was left on a bus when he should’ve been in class. Piersanti’s mother, Stephanie Tuttle, filed a complaint on his behalf as he was supposed to be in his classroom at Achilles Elementary. The child was said to have been left on the bus for seven hours in the bus parking lot. This event occurred on a cold January day, when the temperature did not reach over 32 degrees.

Blake Persanti, who has a disability, fell asleep on the bus ride to Achilles Elementary, where class starts at 8:50 am and ends at 3:50 pm. The bus driver, Dawn Barkers, failed to do a “common-sense” check of the bus to see if anyone was still on-board. Persanti remained on the bus in the parking lot until the end of the school day. The boy complained of leg pains afterwards and is now seeing a therapist for it. The School Board denied responsibility for he incident saying Persanti should have been able to get himself off the bus.

The lawsuit seeks $500,000 in damages from the Gloucester County School Board and $250,000 in damages from Barkers. The family originally sought compensation from the school board's insurance, saying Barkers should have checked for Persanti and that the school should have realized he wasn't in his class. A representative for The Gloucester County School Board said Monday that the school is handling it personally and will not comment on the lawsuit. “The school never got in contact with Blake’s mother to see if he was supposed to be in class,” says Newport News Lawyer Jacob Murov who is representing the family. “It’s really appalling what happened, and the way the school board and school has handled it is pretty outrageous,” States Murov. According to the complaint, the Gloucester County Department of Social Services investigation concluded neglect and abuse had occurred.

After the complaint, the school system announced to parents that they would send them a message via text within 90 minutes of the school day starting to confirm absences.