Board OKs settlement over principal who hypnotized students
Former North Port High School Principal Kenney admitted he hypnotized 16-year-old Wesley McKinley a day before the teenager committed suicide in April 2011. A subsequent investigation found that Kenney hypnotized as many as 75 students, staff members and others from 2006 until McKinley's death.
By Shelby Webb
Published: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 8:39 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 8:39 p.m.
SARASOTA COUNTY - The families of three North Port High School students who died after being hypnotized by former Principal George Kenney will receive $200,000 each from the Sarasota County School District under a settlement agreement unanimously approved by the School Board at its meeting Tuesday night.
The $600,000 settlement closes a bizarre, yearslong case that began after former North Port High School Principal Kenney admitted he hypnotized 16-year-old Wesley McKinley a day before the teenager committed suicide in April 2011.
A subsequent investigation found that Kenney hypnotized as many as 75 students, staff members and others from 2006 until McKinley's death. One basketball player at the school said Kenney hypnotized him 30 to 40 times to improve his concentration.
Among those who were hypnotized were 17-year-old Brittany Palumbo and 16-year-old Marcus Freeman. Palumbo committed suicide in 2011. Freeman was in a fatal car accident after apparently self-hypnotizing, a technique Kenney taught the teenager, also in 2011.
School Board Attorney Art Hardy said after the board approved the agreement on a 4-0 vote that the board was “just happy to put this behind them.”
School Board Chairman Frank Kovach was not present for the vote.
Earlier on Tuesday, Damian Mallard, an attorney representing the families of McKinley, Palumbo and Freeman, said the parents did not sue for money but to hold the school district accountable and to ensure something similar does not happen again.
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