A retired teacher was killed when a towering wooden pole, allegedly allowed to decay for years by Philadelphia school officials, crashed onto a high school track where she had been taking a morning walk, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
The 45-foot utility pole, which court filings say had been deteriorating for more than a decade, broke at its base and fell onto 73-year-old Paula Budin at Roxborough High School’s athletic complex on the morning of Dec. 5, 2024.
Budin was found by a passerby bleeding and unresponsive, and emergency medical workers could not revive her, the lawsuit filed by her family and obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer states.
The former educator died from blunt force trauma injuries, according to the complaint filed Friday in Philadelphia court.
Her family alleges that the Philadelphia School District and Parsons Corporation, a company hired to evaluate district facilities, failed to properly inspect, maintain or address the rotting pole before it collapsed.
Signs of decay on the pole were visible as early as 2014, the court papers claim.
“Despite this actual and/or constructive knowledge and their appreciation of that risk of catastrophic harm, the district did not take corrective action nor did it warn students or members of the community of the risk of catastrophic harm,” attorneys for Budin’s family said.
The pole that snapped was one of four used to support lighting and security cameras along the school’s athletic complex, an area the filing says was generally accessible to the public.
The school district eventually removed the three remaining poles after Budin’s troubling death — but a subsequent investigation by the district’s lawyers and experts found the poles had not been inspected before she was killed, the outlet reported.
The pole that crushed the former educator was buried in grass near a debris-filled storm drain, causing standing water to soak into the pole and lead it to “deteriorate and rot to the point of severe and dangerous decay,” according to the lawsuit.
Budin enjoyed an active lifestyle as a retiree and previously worked as a teacher at the Germantown Academy and the Community Partnership School.
She was close to her loved ones — two sisters, two nephews and a niece — before her tragic death, according to The Inquirer.
Budin’s family is now seeking financial damages from the school district and the Parsons Corporation for the alleged negligence.
“While the School District of Philadelphia cannot comment on pending litigation, we understand and recognize the tragedy of Ms. Budin’s death,” a school district spokesperson said in a statement to The Post.
The Parsons Corporation did not immiediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
