By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
A Plainsboro student who was injured after sliding onto third base during a game at Melvin Kreps Middle School recently reached a settlement with East Windsor Regional School District, her attorney confirmed Wednesday.
Kerry Shanaberger’s attorney, James O’Donohue of Princeton-based Hill Wallack LLP, declined to provide details of the settlement and did not give an exact date as to when the settlement was reached.
A secretary for Kerry’s father, Jeffrey Shanaberger, who is also an attorney at Hill Wallack, said Wednesday that he would be out of his office through press time. Mr. Shanaberger’s home phone number was not listed.
EWRSD Superintendent Ed Forsthoffer said he was made aware of the lawsuit a week earlier. He said Kerry Shanaberger’s injury was reported on May 24, 2010.
Mr. Forsthoffer said the New Jersey School Boards Association Insurance Group handles these kinds of cases typically, so any settlement would be covered by them rather than taxpayer dollars. The school district pays no deductible for the litigation insurance.
New Jersey School Board Association Insurance Group adjuster Dave McCabe, who handled the lawsuit and settlement on the school board’s behalf, could not be reached for comment.
Dr. Forsthoffer said he thought the insurance group might have determined it would be cheaper to settle than to fight the claim.
”The school’s not admitting any wrongdoing,” Dr. Forsthoffer said. “If I had anything to say about this settlement, we may be taking a different avenue.”
Dr. Forsthoffer wouldn’t comment on how the bases were installed at Kreps, saying the litigation on the matter was still pending.
According to the Trenton Times, the 15-year-old Kerry, who is now a freshman at West Windsor Plainsboro High School North, broke her leg sliding into third base during a softball game at Kreps. Mr. O’Donohue told the Times that he and his client were accusing the school district of negligence, saying the field used a posted base rather than one that was designed to break away upon the force of a player’s sliding into it.
Jack Dubois, an assistant director at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, told the Herald that middle school games in the state are governed by the association, which follows the rules of the National Federation of High Schools.
Mary Struckhoff, the Softball Rules Editor and National Interpreter for the Indianapolis-based National Federation of High Schools, said the federation only writes rules for high-school competition, though state and local organizations can determine what rules will be followed for sub-varsity play.
Ms. Struckhoff cited the regulations on the base design in an e-mail to the Herald. First, second and third base in a softball field “shall be white bags made of canvas (filled with a soft material), molded rubber or synthetic material and shall be securely attached to the ground or an anchor system,” the statement declared.
The rules make no mention of the need for a base to be able to break away on impact from a player sliding into them.
”Application and enforcement of these rules is the responsibility of the state or governing body and the local school providing the equipment,” Ms. Struckhoff said.

