Nebraska school district is forced to pay parents $1M after boy died after having allergic reaction

A Nebraska school district has agreed to pay $1 million to the family of an eighth grader who died after eating a granola bar given to him by a teacher.

The Papillion La Vista school board will vote on the wrongful death settlement with the parents of Jagger Shaw, 14, at its meeting Monday night.

Few details about what happened last May are included in court documents because the settlement was reached through a probate court process and not a civil lawsuit.

Jagger’s parents, Tom and Jill Shaw, declined to comment to the Omaha World-Herald about the settlement, but his father said in a Facebook post that Jagger’s teacher at Liberty Middle School offered him a granola bar after he asked to go to the office for a snack.

‘I gave him a hug and kiss told him to be good, and have a good day like every time I dropped him off,’ he wrote.

Jagger Shaw, 14, suddenly became ill and began to have an allergic reaction after being given a snack by a teacher at Liberty Middle School in Nebraska

Jagger was taken to a local hospital where he later died after suffering an allergic reaction

He wrote how his son had asked to go to the school office to retrieve a snack, but a teacher instead offered him one of her granola bars. 

‘Jagger took it, and got halfway through eating it, and felt like he was starting to have an allergic reaction and went to the nurse’s office,’ his father said.

‘They gave him Benadryl and waited to see if that was working,’ said Shaw.

He wrote that his son tried to throw up the food, but ‘came back from the bathroom looking flushed.’ At that point, ‘the nurse gave him the EpiPen and called an ambulance.’

He did not describe Jagger’s allergy in the post nor say if the school was aware of that allergy.

Jagger was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, but the anaphylaxis shock became critical

Jagger’s dad, Tom Shaw, is pictured alongside his fiance

Jagger Shaw, left, is seen with his twin brother, Jayce and mother Jill Shaw

Nebraska mother, Jill Shaw, is pictured alongside her son, Jagger, who died from an allergic reaction after consuming a granola bar while at school 

Jagger was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, but the anaphylaxis shock became critical.

Shaw’s described how his son’s heart had to be restarted, and his brain had begun swelling.

He was transferred to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha where he was placed onto ventilator, only his condition worsened. 

Dad, Tom Shaw, posted details surrounding the events that led up to his son’s death online

Jagger attended Liberty Middle School in Papillion, Nebraska. The school district’s liability insurer will pay the million dollar settlement

Troy Juracek is the  Principal of Liberty Middle School

His father wrote how oxygen deprivation and swelling had severely injured his son’s brain. Doctors told the family that scans showed Jagger had negligible brain activity and that there was no chance of recovery.

Jagger passed away on May 7, 2022, surrounded by his family. ‘I hope he knew somehow that we were with him,’ wrote Tom.

The school district’s liability insurer will pay the settlement.

‘Our thoughts are with the Shaw family. It’s such a tragic situation. Our hearts break for them,’ said Annette Eyman, a district spokeswoman. 

The Shaw family’s attorney have not responded to a phone message requesting details of the settlement.