2011 goal-post death settled

State will pay $375,000 to family of crushed boy, 9

The state Department of Human Services has settled a claim brought by the family of a 9-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a soccer goal post.

The department announced the terms of the settlement in a statement Friday afternoon.

Under the terms of the settlement, the state will pay $375,000 to the family of Jonathan Nelson, who was killed Jan. 26, 2011, after a soccer goal post tipped over and fell on him during recess at Elm Tree Elementary School in Bentonville.

“As a family, we have fought for two years to get justice for our son Jonathan. It is with a tremendous amount of relief and satisfaction that today we announce a settlement has been reached with [the department],” the Nelson family said in a statement.

The family couldn’t successfully sue the school district because it had sovereign immunity under the Arkansas Constitution.

So the family sought help from the state Claims Commission, which has the authority to award damages to those who have been harmed by the state, and asked that the department be held liable in Jonathan’s death.

According to the claim, the department was responsible for making sure the playground area at Elm Tree Elementary was safebecause the department licensed an after-school program called Adventure Club, which was based at the school.

The claim was dismissed and denied in January 2012 because the commissioners found Jonathan was not enrolled in the state-approved child-care program, was not on that program’s property, was not under the supervision of the program at the time of the accident and was not using its equipment.

On Feb. 25, the Joint Budget Committee’s Claims Subcommittee reversed the Claims Commission’s ruling after two separate hearings and awarded the family $1 million.

But the award amount did not have enough support toget out of the 56-member Joint Budget Committee. Members Wednesday voted 23-7 in favor of affirming the award amount. The claim needed 29 “yes” votes to be approved.

“When it got sent back to the subcommittee, we took that opportunity to go back to the family and [say] ‘Let’s try to work out an agreement that we all feel comfortable with,’” department spokesman Amy Webb said.

In addition to the monetary award, the settlement includes a list of evaluations and rule changes the department will undertake. The department will:

Review the rules for childcare facilities regardingidentifying certified playground areas.

Review the rules for child-care facility playground safety.

Establish guidelines for placing physical barriers between playground areas and potentially unsafe areas.

Train or retrain staff in safety inspections.

The department, in a news release, said one of its officials will meet with Jonathan’s parents, Nathan and Sarah Nelson, “to discuss, without limitation, playground safety,” adding, “DHS extends our condolences to the Nelson family for the loss of their son, Jonathan...It is our department’s hope that this settlement and compromise will further enhance child safety.” The Nelsons said they will continue to work on playground safety legislation.

In a statement, the Nelsons said: “We can think of no better way to honor our son than to protect other children in our state as they do what Jonathan loved best.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 03/09/2013

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