Herricks school district OKs $35 million bond to help pay for Child Victims Act settlements

The Herricks school board last week approved a $35 million bond to help cover the cost of settling more Child Victims Act lawsuits, just one month after it approved a separate $5 million bond to fund such payments. 

At the same May 9 meeting, the board also approved 18 more settlements, bringing a close to the 27 lawsuits that alleged district officials were negligent as two staffers allegedly sexually abused students on and off school property decades ago. In all, the district settled 26 cases and a jury found the district not negligent in the other. 

This marks the end of the litigation facing the district with the second-most Child Victims Act suits, following Bay Shore's 45. That district on the South Shore has settled one of those and the other 44 are making their way through the court system toward trials.

Herricks schools Superintendent Tony Sinanis declined to say how much the district paid to settle the 26 lawsuits, and the district has yet to respond to Newsday's public records requests for the agreements.

The Child Victims Act, signed into law in 2019, opened a temporary window for alleged victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits seeking damages. Before the law's passage, survivors were prevented from filing suit once they turned 23. The window to file claims closed in 2021.

On Tuesday, residents in Herricks will vote on a proposed 2024-25 budget that includes a roughly 5.2% year-over-year increase, or nearly $7 million more than the current year’s spending plan. District officials said the rate is about 2 percentage points higher because of lawsuit costs and associated legal fees.

“If you were to exclude pending claims and legal fees, which you know we are dealing with various legal issues, it would be about a 3.25% increase, which is very consistent with what we're seeing in the region and the state,” Sinanis said in a budget presentation last month.

The district’s proposed budget of $141 million includes a tax levy increase of 2.38%, which is equal to the district’s 2.38% tax-cap limit.

Sinanis declined to comment for this story.

In the case where the jury found the district not negligent, the district was absolved of any financial responsibility. Of the more than 200 lawsuits filed against Long Island districts, that was the only one to complete a trial.

Herricks had already paid $1.125 million to settle four Child Victims Act lawsuits in late 2023, according to documents Newsday obtained through Freedom of Information Law requests.

The school district did not admit any negligence in the settlements, the records show. District officials said at the time they paid those settlements through funds already in their budget.

The district has not provided the remaining 22 settlement agreements Newsday requested.

Legal fees associated with the Child Victims Act also can be expensive to school districts. Bay Shore’s ongoing legal costs to two firms through February have added up to $685,495, according to records Newsday obtained. Cold Spring Harbor has said it has spent more than $1 million in legal fees when it settled three lawsuits for $14.3 million.

Herricks has yet to respond to requested legal fees it has spent on the claims, including the one that completed a trial.

Jenny Rossman, an attorney with Herman Law, which represents plaintiffs in 27 cases against Herricks, on Thursday declined to comment “at this time.”

Previously, a Newsday analysis found that Long Island districts have paid out $33.1 million to settle 46 lawsuits brought by former students who say teachers, administrators and fellow students sexually abused them. That figure is certain to rise significantly as it does not include the recent 22 settlements approved by the Herricks board and six by other districts.

Nearly 100 lawsuits remain ongoing against Long Island districts. The school systems have paid former students between $5,000 and $8 million to end their lawsuits, records show.