SPRINGBORO — New details a being revealed about a multi-million dollar settlement for more than two dozen Springboro students who were sexually abused by a gym teacher in 2018 and 2019.
In settlement agreements obtained by News Center 7 through Springboro Local Schools, the district’s insurer, Liberty Mutual Insurance/Netherlands Insurance Company, paid out $3.5 million in a proffered settlement.
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Nearly each of the 32 students were awarded $109,576, according to the documents. That amount was reduced to $71,376 after attorney fees and lawsuit expenses were taken out.
As part of the settlement, the parents are to be the custodians of the money until their children turn 18 years old.
On Wednesday, Scott Marshall, a district spokesperson, reiterated what he told News Center 7 in June, saying that the district “had no out-of-pocket expenses for this claim.”
“The settlement sum amount, which is an agreed-upon amount by Liberty Mutual Insurance/Netherlands Insurance Company and the claimants, is not an out-of-pocket, district expense for Springboro Schools,” Marshall said.
In June, News Center 7 reported that the Board of Education approved a settlement agreement related to a federal civil class action lawsuit with parents whose students were sexually assaulted by former gym teacher John Austin Hopkins.
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Hopkins was found guilty of 34 of 36 counts of gross sexual imposition in March 2020.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison in June 2020.
As part of his sentencing, Hopkins was designated as a Tier II sex offender and will have to register his address every six months for 25 years after his release.
The federal class-action lawsuit was filed in September 2019 and alleged that Hopkins installed a doorbell on the gymnasium door to alert him when school staff wanted access.
As News Center 7 previously reported, the district first learned of allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student when a parent reported concerns to the principal at Clearcreek Elementary School.
As part of the settlement, the district has either implemented or plans to implement a list of policies and practices that the settlement outlines. Among those, one states that the superintendent will “provide information to building