Bowmans settle lawsuit with schools

Bigfork Eagle

A lawsuit filed against the Bigfork School District by the parents of Jeffrey Bowman, the Bigfork High School student who collapsed during a preseason football practice and died a week later in August 2007, has been settled out of court.

The district's insurance company settled with Bob and Troy Bowman for an undisclosed sum on Aug. 24, according to Superintendent Russ Kinzer.

Kinzer declined to comment beyond confirming the settlement.

The Bowmans' attorney, Denver-based Dan Caplis, likewise declined to comment, except to say that the Bowmans would issue a statement soon.

"They made a promise before to the community that they were going to bring a lawsuit to get to the truth. They have done that," Caplis said. "They are going to be issuing their own full report to the community about what really happened. It will include a lot of facts that haven't been published before."

The Bowmans filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in August 2008, alleging a lack of CPR and defibrillator training for staff, negligent supervision, outrageous conduct and a deprivation of parental rights. The suit had been scheduled to go to trial early next year.

The suit named the district, then-BHS Activities Director Shannon Smith and then-football coach Bruce Corbett individually.

Though the circumstances that led to Bowman's death at age 17 have been debated, there is no doubt that the senior did not have a sports physical turned in before the first day of practice — a violation of both BHS and Montana High School Association policies.

In a report by Missoula attorney Elizabeth Kaleva, the school's filing system for permission slips and physicals was found to be flawed, and has since undergone a revision.

Kaleva's report found appropriate on-field response by coaching staff, though that report was derided by the Bowman family at the time as "an insult."

Since Bowman's death just before the 2007 school year, the activities director position has changed twice, and Corbett left the football coaching job, though he did return to coach the 2008-09 campaign.

Bowman's death also prompted 2009 BHS graduate Cheyne Valentine and his mother, Serra, to take on a high-profile fundraising drive to buy additional defibrillators for the district.