Nebraska school district forced to pay parents $1 million after child 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 14-year-old Jagger Shaw at their meeting Monday night.

Few details about what happened last May are included in court documents because the settlement was reached through probate proceedings rather than a civil lawsuit.

Jagger’s parents, Tom and Jill Shaw, declined to comment to the Omaha World Herald about the arrangement, 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 a kiss, told him to be good and have a good day like every time I left him,” she wrote.

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

She wrote that her son had asked to go to the school office to get a snack, but a teacher offered him one of her granola bars.

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

“They gave him Benadryl and waited to see if it would work,” Shaw said.

She wrote that her son tried to vomit 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 or say whether the school was aware of that allergy.

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

Jagger’s father, Tom Shaw, appears with his fiancé.

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

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

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

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

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

The father, Tom Shaw, posted details about the events leading 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 the lack of oxygen and swelling had severely damaged his son’s brain. Doctors told the family that scans showed Jagger had negligible brain activity and there was no chance of recovery.

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

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

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

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