Judge rules in Bucks County Technical High School suit over non-lethal weapons training

Jo Ciavaglia, Bucks County Courier Times
·2 min read
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A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit seeking to hold the Bucks County Technical High School responsible for a former student’s hand injury, but the attorney representing the student plans to refile it.

In a May 20 order, U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone found Jenna Jo Biondino failed to show that her injuries were serious enough to support that the school and instructor were “deliberately indifferent.”

“Indeed, the risk that a student would get injured in precisely the way that Biondino did was clearly substantial. But the risk of harm inherent in this exercise— broken bones and other injuries along the lines of what Biondino suffered—was not ‘serious’ enough to plausibly show that defendants, as a matter of law, were deliberately indifferent,” Beetlestone wrote in her order.

BCTHS administrative director Henry DeGeorge said the school was pleased with the dismissal decision.

Biondino’s attorney, Jay Russell, though, said his client plans to re-file the complaint and address the issues the judge outlined in her opinion.

A federal judge has dismissed a civil suit against the Bucks County Technical High School alleging it was negligent for requiring a student to engage in nonlethal weapons training in 2022. The student broke her pinky finger in an exercise.
A federal judge has dismissed a civil suit against the Bucks County Technical High School alleging it was negligent for requiring a student to engage in nonlethal weapons training in 2022. The student broke her pinky finger in an exercise.

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What did Jenna Jo Biondino alleged happened to her

The Morrisville woman alleged in May 2022, as a 17-year-old student she was required to participate in impact weapons training with batons and punch paddles as part of the school’s Emergency Medical Services program.

Biondino alleges while sparring with another student her left hand was struck resulting in a broken left pinky finger and “accompanying nerve damage and permanent limitations.”

How did Biondino argue BCTHS and its instructor were responsible for her injuries?

The lawsuit contends there was "no rational reason” for students enrolled in the EMS program to be trained in the use of impact weapons and the school and instructor disregarded “foreseen problems” with the training.

Students allegedly were given general instructions on how to hold the baton while another student struck them with punch paddles. No hand or finger protection was provided to students, the suit said.

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County Tech School not responsible for weapons injury: Judge