How can educators avoid litigation in a world where it is easy to make a mistake, especially dealing with many students? Any teacher can tell you about the many challenges of their job. They deal with unruly students, demanding parents, and complex administration. Those are just a few of the most common obstacles. One thing that shouldn’t be on that list is litigation. However, some educators must fear the ever-present potential for legal action. Many of these lawsuits come from parents who are unsatisfied with a teacher’s methods or the material being taught in class.

Avoiding Litigation

Regardless of how frivolous a lawsuit of this nature may be, it causes enormous stress. Likewise, it also costs considerable expenses, and threatens an educator’s professional credibility.

Do Not Commit to a Specific Methodology

There’s been much talk recently about the importance of catering to kids’ unique learning styles. These styles are commonly cited as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile. Moreover, each describes the teaching method that best facilitates a student’s learning. This theory caught on like wildfire. Many parents declared that their child was exclusively a tactile learner or kinesthetic learner. Then, they demanded that teachers must incorporate physical objects or movement into lessons to teach their children adequately. Educators should listen to parents but never commit to a specific methodology. Doing so is outside the professional responsibilities of an educator. Thus, it creates an unnecessary liability if that particular methodology is not in use. 

Foster Collaborative Discipline Options

Yet another common source of liability for educators is their use of disciplinary methods. Every teacher will have to employ discipline at some point. Alternatively, they must be conscientious about how they do so. Documentation is a teacher’s best defense against litigation from discipline. Most school districts use a centralized student database to track all academic and disciplinary data, so teachers should be diligent in describing behavioral incidents and justifying the corrective action. If no such system exists, teachers should email the administration a description of the incident instead.

Abide by All Federal Regulations

The wealth of federal regulations that teachers must follow can be overwhelming. Teachers must always comply with their students’ individualized education programs (IEPs), 504 plans, and other mandated accommodations. Failure to adhere to these requirements is a failure of professional duty, and it may be a good cause for litigation. It’s imperative, then, that a teacher be aware of the needs of their students. Then, they must ensure that their students receive the proper attention — especially when it is a legal requirement. It often entails reviewing students’ accommodation documents, noting specific needs, and documenting compliance. As with disciplinary matters, documentation is the best defense against liability in compliance matters.

About PGUI

Professional Governmental Underwriters, LLC., is a full-service risk management company dedicated to assisting public, educational and non-profit entities in the management of their professional liability exposures including educators liability insurance. We are dedicated to providing state-of-the-art professional underwriting management and loss control advisory services on behalf of our designated carriers. For more information, call us toll-free at (800) 586-6502.