Akron Public Schools has agreed to three settlements totaling almost $700,000, closing the door on the years-long legal saga surrounding a “Scared Straight” style program at Leggett Community Learning Center.
The Akron Board of Education voted unanimously on June 23 to approve the settlements after a brief executive session. Board member Gregory Harrison read the case numbers into the public record.
The initial lawsuit, filed in 2018, claimed the district “failed to supervise, train, monitor, and/or maintain protective measures against violent and abusive individuals on Leggett CLC school grounds.”
What caused the Akron schools’ lawsuits?
Christopher Hendon, who was not a certified peace officer in Ohio or any other state, according to an investigation by the Summit County Sheriff’s Department, handcuffed elementary students and transported them to the Summit County Juvenile Detention Center or the county jail.
The initial lawsuit alleged that all defendants, including APS’ Board of Education, were aware of Hendon’s program which resembled “Scared Straight.”
Hendon was arrested and later pleaded guilty to 31 counts, including felony charges of kidnapping, abduction and impersonating a police officer. He was sentenced to five years and 11 months in prison. He served 19 months before being released in December of 2019.
In December 2020, Hendon completed a program that assists people transitioning from prison.
In the civil lawsuits, Hendon was accused by parents of using racial slurs, pushing, assaulting, handcuffing and humiliating the students.
The attorneys for the families tried to push the lawsuits to federal court, but the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the allegations didn’t violate the federal Constitution, according to reporting by the Akron Beacon Journal.
Where is the settlement money coming from?
The final three settlements totaled $699,700. One suit was settled for $326,556, another for $216,556 and the final for $100,000. This followed a 2019 settlement for $90,000 to another family that sued the district in the case.
“The settlement funds will be paid by the insurance company minus any deductible,” school district spokesperson Stacey Hodoh told Signal Akron. “The district has no further comment on this matter.”
