It looks like Blair Hornstine won't be getting her $2.7 million after all, although she does get to retain her valedictorian status. Oh, well, $15K wouldn't have paid for even one year at Harvard, and, as usual, the real winners here are the lawyers:
Blair Hornstine, whose court battle to be her high school's sole valedictorian ended with her life in turmoil, settled her differences with the Moorestown School District today to the tune of $60,000 - all but $15,000 to pay her lawyers...
In agreeing to the out-of-court settlement, the Moorestown Board of Education admitted no wrongdoing and said it accepted the agreement in part to limit its legal costs.
So, she gets very little money in the settlement, her classmates are looking forward to moving on and forgetting about her, and it's too late for her to be accepted to the schools she rejected for Harvard, including Princeton, Duke, and Stanford. Her future, as she no doubt envisioned it, has been shattered - but I have a feeling that she won't be held back for long.
Her lawyer claims that this was never about money, but about how high schools treat disabled students. Well, she got her wish, but it may not turn out like she expected. Moorestown High will certainly be treating disabled, special education, and home study students differently in the future:
Today, [district superintendent Paul] Kadri said: "I think it's important for everyone to move on now so I don't think it's appropriate to comment on her personally. I do, however, think it's a good thing for both sides."
Kadri added that day to day, the lawsuit had not been on his radar. Instead, he said, the district has been gearing up for the forthcoming school year. That includes making some changes to home instruction for special-education students. The changes were somewhat influenced by the suit, but Kadri said he would have made them regardless of the outcome.
To keep closer tabs on students who do some of their schoolwork at home, the district plans to expand the duties of the director of special education. A new hire was being considered at the board's meeting last night. The director will coordinate services for special education and guidance - two areas that normally handle home-schooled students independent of each other.
"We are working on a system that allows us to monitor the kids every step of the way," Kadri said.
This could be read two ways, which should satisfy both Blair and people who thought she worked the system.
There are many, many other links to this story today, including on in the New York Times. Thanks to Devoted Readers Kayt D. and Adam T. for sending the links my way.
Posted by kswygert at August 20, 2003 09:20 AM