STATEMENT OF BRYAN AND TANYA LEVY
On November 5, our son Bowen Levy, 17, choked on a
latex glove while at his school, Central Special in
Edgewater. Bowen lost consciousness and we have been
told by his medical team that he was likely without oxygen
for approximately ten minutes.
Bowen was taken to Anne Arundel Hospital and then
airlifted to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore.
On November 10, Bowen lost his battle, but he left us the
way he always lived, with the selfless donation of his
organs to save the lives of others.
We appreciate the outpouring of support from the
community which has honored our family’s respect for
privacy. We are also grateful for the many caring and
dedicated teachers and staff who supported Bowen over
the years.
The Anne Arundel County school system has not provided
us any information as to how this could have happened
during the school day. The school system promised it
would provide Bowen 1:1 full-time supervision to keep him
safe, but as this year commenced, we were informed that
supervision was not available. We were told the system
was having trouble finding student aides because of the
low salaries being paid by the Board of Education.
We mourn the loss of Bowen. We are also deeply
concerned that other students who desperately need

 proper supervision might not be receiving it and are
similarly at risk. We can’t bring our son back, but we must
do everything possible to ensure that no other parents’
daughter or son suffers an unnecessary injury or death
because the Board of Education failed to provide the basic
resources to keep them safe.