Jeannette City School District will pay $150,000 to a former student who was sexually assaulted by a high school teacher in 2016.
School directors last month approved the settlement agreement that was obtained this week by TribLive through a records request under the Right-To-Know Law.
A lawsuit was filed in federal court four years ago by the former student and later transferred to Westmoreland County civil court.
The teacher, Maria Chappell, then 38, was charged by Westmoreland County detectives in 2016 with having sex with a then-16-year-old boy multiple times in her classroom and other locations. She pleaded guilty in 2018 and was ordered to serve six to 23 months in jail and four years of probation.
She was released from probation in 2019, and her criminal case has been closed, according to court records.
Court filings indicate Chappell covered the window into her classroom to allow for unsupervised time with the boy out of the view of anyone in the building. The lawsuit claims district officials knew of the sexual abuse before reporting it to authorities.
The district denied that in court filings and said Chappell was immediately placed on administrative leave once suspicions arose.
The settlement agreement calls for the district’s insurance carrier to make the $150,000 payment. The former student reported physical, emotional and mental harm as a result of the sexual abuse, according to the document.
The district “denies participating in any conduct that resulted in any injury to plaintiff,” the agreement states.
Chappell had been a teacher in the district for 13 years before her arrest. She surrendered her teaching license, according to state records. She last updated her sex offender registration in October.
