Choking Lawsuit: AACPS To Pay $2.5M After Late Student With Disabilities Swallows Glove

EDGEWATER, MD — Anne Arundel County Public Schools said it will pay $2.5 million to the family of a student with disabilities who died after swallowing a glove in his classroom.

AACPS said the victim, 17-year-old Bowen Levy, died in 2019 days after he choked at Central Special School in Edgewater. Levy had autism and pica, an eating disorder where people compulsively swallow objects with no nutritional value.

Officials announced the lawsuit settlement with the Levy family on Thursday.

"Bowen Levy’s death was preventable," AACPS said in a press release. "He should not have died. The school system is committed to working with the Levy family and the community to make sure no student is ever placed at risk like Bowen was."

How It Happened

Levy's classroom was understaffed at the time of his choking. His teacher was on leave that afternoon. Two frequent temporary support assistants were working with a student elsewhere in the building. A third temporary support assistant was absent.

A permanent, building-based substitute took over as the teacher that afternoon in the classroom of seven students with disabilities. Two high school student volunteers were also there.

Employees need rubber gloves throughout the day at special education centers. A staff member took one from Levy's mouth earlier in the day, but they were still visible and accessible to Levy that afternoon.

Officials think this is how Levy reached a glove and swallowed it later in the day. Levy started to choke on the glove in the classroom just before 3:10 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2019.

The substitute saw Levy gagging and immediately took him to the health room. The school called 911 and said Levy was not breathing.

Levy was deprived of oxygen for 15 minutes, the release said.

Medics took Levy to the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. Doctors later transferred him to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Officials said Levy died on Nov. 10, 2019.

AACPS said it cooperated with investigations from the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services.

The Department of Social Services found that the school showed “neglect” in Levy's death, the release said.

Social Services also found that Levy died “as a result of the systemic failure at Central Special School," AACPS said.

The school system conducted its own review as well. AACPS did not challenge the findings from social services.

What's Being Done

The Board of Education said it created 32 new special education positions after Levy's death. This includes 11 permanent substitutes, 12 teaching assistants and 9 teachers. These positions are all located at the county's three developmental centers.

AACPS also implemented protocols that switch some in-person instruction to virtual teaching on days with insufficient classroom staffing.

As part of the settlement, the school system agreed to create the Special Education Citizen Advisory Committee. This working group will focus on staffing shortages and special education substitute issues.

AACPS will similarly adopt a Pica Safety Protocol, or a PSP, for all students diagnosed with the eating disorder. All staff members who work with a student with pica will be trained on the new protocol. The policy calls for:

1. Visually inspecting all areas where PSP students frequent to ensure non-edible items are not accessible by PSP students
2. Routinely vacuuming or sweeping the areas to remove items on the floor
3. Placing locks on cabinets, closets and doors that contain possible pica objects
4. Providing access to pica-acceptable items during down times
5. Blocking PSP students engaged in pica behavior (blocking is a strategy involving placing your hand on top of the student’s hand to prevent the student from placing the non-food item into their mouth)
6. 1:1 supervision of any student subject to the PSP, and whose IEP/504 Plan stipulates supervision in accordance with all applicable special education laws
7. Documentation of Pica-related incidents for PSP students, kept in accordance with each student’s IEP/504 and in compliance with all applicable special education laws

Have a story idea? Please contact me at [email protected] with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County news.