The Greenwich board of Selectmen voted in Thursday on a settlement in the case of Palosz et. al. v Town of Greenwich, Board of Education.
Bart Palosz moved to Greenwich with his family in 2006 and attended New Lebanon Elementary School, Western Middle School and Greenwich High School, where he started his sophomore year on Aug 27, 2013.
Bart took his life the first day of school. He was 15.
Bart apparently had been tormented by school bullies for a decade. He ended his life by shotgun blast from a family-owned weapon that had been secured in a gun locker in the family’s Byram home.
Initially the district launched an investigation of Bart’s public school experience. Shortly after, the district announced that the Town legal department would take over responsibility for the investigation. A police investigation was conducted separately.
In October 2013, Greenwich Police announced that no criminal charges would be filed in connection to the suicide.
Almost two years after losing Bart, his parents, Anna Izabela Palosz and Franciszek Palosz, brought a against the town. They claimed that school staff were aware of bullying Bart endured at school for years, but did not follow mandatory anti-bullying policies, a failure they claim contributed to their son’s death.
On Thursday, the Board of Selectmen issued a statement saying they had approved a settlement of $5 million in the case of Palosz et. al. v Town of Greenwich, Board of Education. The Town of Greenwich will pay $930,831.13 as part of the settlement and the remainder will be covered by the Town’s insurance carrier.
The settlement will not be finalized until the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the Representative Town Meeting’s Claims Committee both vote on it.
In the statement, the Selectmen said, “The Board of Selectmen acknowledges this has been an incredibly difficult situation for the Palosz family.