The Glen Mills Schools lawsuit is actually two parallel cases brought by former students of the now-closed Pennsylvania reform school: a federal civil rights suit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania called Derrick v. Glen Mills Schools, and a mass tort in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas that has grown to encompass more than 800 individual claims. Together they allege decades of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by staff, along with the failure of school officials and Pennsylvania agencies to stop it. Two settlements have already been reached — $3 million from the Chester County Intermediate Unit and $450,000 from state defendants — and the first bellwether trials in the mass tort were scheduled to begin in 2025.
What the Lawsuits Allege
The claims center on a discipline regime at Glen Mills in which counselors punched, choked, and slammed students into walls, broke bones, and threatened boys with longer sentences or transfers to harsher facilities if they reported what happened.1The Philadelphia Inquirer. Glen Mills Schools Pa. Abuse Juvenile Investigation A February 2019 Philadelphia Inquirer investigation documented that staff falsified logs, blocked investigators from speaking freely with students, and retaliated against whistleblowers. Within weeks, Philadelphia pulled its 51 students, other jurisdictions followed, and on March 25, 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services issued an emergency removal order citing “gross incompetence, negligence, misconduct in operating a facility, including mistreatment and abuse of children in care.”2Pennsylvania Auditor General. Glen Mills Schools Audit Report DHS revoked all 14 of the school’s residential licenses two weeks later.
Plaintiffs argue the abuse fell disproportionately on Black students and students with disabilities, and that state agencies knew or should have known: DHS conducted no unannounced inspections at Glen Mills between 2009 and 2013, and roughly 98 percent of abuse allegations were not substantiated in the decade before closure, in part because of a legal standard requiring proof staff acted “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly.”3The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania Reform School Abuse Scandal DHS Oversight Glen Mills
The Federal Case: Derrick v. Glen Mills Schools
The Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, and Dechert LLP filed Derrick et al. v. Glen Mills Schools et al. on April 11, 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.4Education Law Center. Derrick et al. v. Glen Mills Schools et al. The complaint pleaded eighteen causes of action, including violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and state common-law negligence.5CourtListener. Derrick v. Glen Mills Schools Docket
Defendants include Glen Mills Schools, former executive director Randy Ireson, the Chester County Intermediate Unit (the school’s local educational agency), the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and current and former officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Judge Harvey Bartle III allowed nearly all claims to proceed in December 2019.
In May 2024, the court denied class certification, finding the claims too individualized for a class action while acknowledging a record “replete with appalling incidents of widespread abuse.” The Third Circuit declined immediate review, and the case proceeded on behalf of individually named plaintiffs. After settlements with the remaining defendants, all claims brought by the three named plaintiffs were voluntarily dismissed in February 2025.
The Philadelphia Mass Tort
A separate class action filed in March 2019 by Berger Montague and Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin grew to encompass more than 800 individual claims and was consolidated as a mass tort in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas under In re: The Glen Mills Schools Litigation, Docket No. 200600900, before Judge Joshua Roberts.6Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. In re: Glen Mills Schools Docket On June 17, 2020, the court coordinated all related matters under a master docket and established protocols for document production, plaintiff fact sheets, and bellwether case selection.
In August 2024, the court scheduled the first four bellwether trials, with the first set for February 2025 following court-ordered mediation.7The Legal Intelligencer. Glen Mills Schools Mass Tort Gets New Bellwether Dates After Pause in Trial Schedule The master docket’s status as of mid-2026 reads “Waiting for Listing Mass Tort,” meaning the litigation remains active.
Settlements Reached So Far
Chester County Intermediate Unit — $3 Million
In January 2023, the CCIU agreed to pay $3 million to resolve the education-related claims in Derrick.8Juvenile Law Center. Chester County Intermediate Unit Approves $3 Million Settlement Glen Mills Schools Class Action Plaintiffs argued the CCIU, as the local educational agency, failed to provide a legally compliant education and left students with disabilities without required special education services.
The settlement created two funds. A compensatory education fund covers tutoring, college or vocational tuition, job training, counseling, therapy, and educational supplies, with additional allocations for students with disabilities and English learners. A damages fund provides cash payments to students who experienced or witnessed physical abuse or restraints during school hours.9WHYY. Pa. Glen Mills School Abuse Case Settlement Chester County Roughly 1,600 young adults were eligible to apply, with a claim-form deadline of January 19, 2024. Payouts were calculated pro-rata based on the number of school days each student attended, with award notifications in March 2024 and payments in April 2024.10Education Fund for Former Glen Mills Students. FAQ Compensatory education funds must be used within six years, and unused balances revert to the CCIU.
Pennsylvania State Defendants — $450,000
In August 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and former DHS leaders reached a $450,000 global settlement with former students.11Juvenile Law Center. Pa. Settles Former Glen Mills Students $450,000 Creates New Monitoring Procedures The agreement also required the Department of Education to create the Office of Program Monitoring and Accountability, which must operate through at least January 2027 and is responsible for taking public complaints about residential facilities, collecting educational-program data, and conducting unannounced site visits. The complaint system launched in January 2025.
Where Things Stand
The federal Derrick case has resolved as to its named plaintiffs. The Philadelphia mass tort, involving more than 800 former students, remains active with bellwether trials scheduled and the master docket open as of 2026. The CCIU claim-form deadline for the $3 million education settlement passed on January 19, 2024, so that fund is closed to new applications; former students who believe they have claims in the ongoing mass tort should contact plaintiffs’ counsel directly, as the file does not identify a public deadline for joining that proceeding.