When it comes to school safety, most parents may think of things like bullying, violence, or physical education or sports. But there are plenty of other risks that students face in seemingly safe classroom situations. For instance, in Manhattan, a jury awarded nearly $60 million in damages to a man whose body was left horribly scarred from third-degree burns during a 2014 high school chemistry class experiment. This freak accident, while rare, shows just how wide-ranging student health and safety is in terms of liabilities.

While injuries to students are often unavoidable, the question is who is liable for injuries that students garner by going to class?

Injuries to Students

If a student is injured while at school or while partaking in a school activity, such as a sport or field trip, figuring out who’s liable can be tricky. Even if the school or employees from the school may not have directly caused a student’s injury, the district might still be legally responsible.

If students, for example, were injured in a school bus accident caused by the driver of another car, parents may want to bring a claim against the other driver for causing the accident. However, the school district may be just as much at fault for the injuries that the students endure.

School Districts Immunity

School districts are entities known as political subdivisions, just like federal government agencies at the state, county, and municipal level. In all states, these political subdivisions operate with sovereign immunity.

Sovereign immunity means that in most situations the government entity and its employees are completely immune from lawsuits. However, all states in the country have conditionally waived this kind of immunity clause and allow claims for compensation when negligence related to the school district or its employees causes an injury to students.

If a parent decides to file a lawsuit against a school district or educator in the school, insurance for educators is encouraged. This kind of insurance plays a pivotal role in providing the financial help needed during litigation. Even if a school district or its employees are found to be innocent, the price of going through a lawsuit can be draining to the bottom line.

Notice of Claim

Laws governing lawsuits against school districts can vary state to state, but usually, before an injury lawsuit can be filed, a notice of claim or similar document must be filed with the district. This notice of claim typically must be in writing and must describe the nature of the incident in question and detail the injuries that a student received. Finally, these notices of claims should also include a demand for compensation in a dollar amount so that the district in question can begin to investigate.

Also, these claims should be made within a certain time frame, usually within 90 days of an injury. After a claim is filed, those who made the claim must wait to file a lawsuit in court until the school district has denied the claim or a certain amount of time has passed without any action by the district.

About PGUI

Professional Governmental Underwriters, Inc., 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.