OPINION:
Abby Zwerner, the 25-year-old first grade teacher who was wounded by her 6-year-old student at Virginia’s Richneck Elementary, has filed a $40 million lawsuit accusing school officials of gross negligence for allegedly ignoring multiple warnings that the child not only had a weapon but was in a “violent mood” on the day of the shooting (“Teacher shot by 6-year-old student files $40 million lawsuit,” web, April 3).
The lawsuit names the Newport News School Board and several school district officials, including former Superintendent George Parker III, as defendants.
After the school administrators who turned a deaf ear to this teacher’s warnings were dealt with (one through firing, one through reassignment and another through resignation), the board voted to install metal detectors in every school in the district, beginning with Richneck, and purchasing clear backpacks for all students.
According to the lawsuit, teachers’ “concerns with [student] John Doe’s behavior (were) regularly brought to the attention of Richneck Elementary School administration, and … were always dismissed.” No one has been charged in the shooting so far, including the 6-year-old who fired the gun. Meanwhile, Ms. Zwerner has “suffered permanent bodily injuries, physical pain, mental anguish, lost earnings and other damages.”
Normally I think civil suits are frivolous. But as a former subservient who attempted to sway a supervisor’s mind only to be ignored, I say to Ms. Zwerner, “You go, girl.”
RICK KNIGHT
Henrico, Virginia
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