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Standards of Care in School Litigation
Increasingly, parents are holding schools accountable for the safety
and well-being of their children. Cases like those described below
require attention to more than school quality (although issues related
to quality are certainly factors in any school litigation):
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A school principal permitted an elementary school student to be taken off the school grounds by a "friend" without parental permission.
The child was murdered and the parents sued the school system.
This case is still in the courts. |
A special education student was sexually molested on numerous occasions by the school custodian.
The employee is now in prison and the parents are suing the school system. |
A fifth grade student was seriously injured on a field trip when he was sent on an unsupervised science mission to explore an area and report back to the group.
The child slipped and fell off a cliff.
This case is still in the courts. |
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A male teacher previously convicted of child molestation in one school district was employed by a second school district without a reference check.
Molestation occurred again, and the teacher was convicted.
The parents are suing the school system. |
A sixth grade student was punched and seriously injured during recess on a sparsely supervised playground by another student who had a long history of injuring others in fights.
The parents sued the school system. |
A first grade student who had been told by school officials to wait for his mother after school hours in front of the school, walked home alone and was hit by a car while crossing a highway.
He was seriously injured and the parents sued the school system. |
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Numerous students and parents reported acts of sexual harassment toward students upon the part of a male physical education teacher.
The teacher was reassigned as an attendance officer where he was able to continue harassment in his office and at the students' homes behind closed doors.
For a three year period the harassment continued and the school system failed to supervise, discipline or report the incident to proper authorities.
The parents sued the school system.
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As suggested by the situations discussed above, when evaluating
the role or responsibility of a school system in non-custody litigation,
a number of important factors involving school policies, regulations,
and staff must be considered:
- Is school policy sound, and is it clear to all staff, administrators, and other personnel?
- Did the school comply with its own stated policy?
- Is school policy consistent with that of comparable schools?
- Did the school comply with all relevant local, state, and federal regulations?
- Were basic safety rules and guidelines followed?
- Were personnel properly selected, trained, and supervised?
These questions require experienced evaluators who understand procedures, regulations, and administrative policies from the basic to the complex;
who are knowledgeable about education and administrative theory; and who understand typical or usual standards of care.
In addition, the expert must have the ability to find out about and compare schools and policies.
The SchoolMatch® databases allow our experts to make valid comparisons among public or private schools, anywhere in the country.
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