When a student suffers an injury while they’re on campus, it brings up enough questions related to liability and fault. But what happens when something occurs off school grounds? Parents want to know who is responsible for the injury to their child and how it happened. Parents put their trust in the hands of the teachers and administrators, but when something happens off-campus, this only causes more stress.

Unfortunately, negligent school employees fail to adequately supervise students and not everything can be under a watchful eye, whether it happens during a field trip, sporting event, or performing arts trip. Understanding the rules of school liability in situations that include student injury off school grounds requires knowledge and patience.

Understanding Duty of Care

To ensure that students receive the right amount of protection, the courts place upon school administrators and teachers a legal duty of care or an obligation. This duty of care refers to the fact that schools have to do everything they reasonably can to protect their students from foreseeable harm, injury, and death. This can include providing a safe environment for students, whether they’re on campus or off.

Those in charge of looking over students, such as teachers and administrators, must repair or minimize conditions in a timely way to ensure that students receive the right kind and amount of supervision while they’re on school grounds, on school-provided transportation, and while they’re off school grounds during extracurricular activities.

Some states have their own regulations and laws when it comes to laying out duties and exact fault. In California, for example, the state gives special immunity to school districts during field trips and other trips that are similar. The courts in California usually won’t hold the school liable for injuries or deaths occurring during visits students and supervisors make for firsthand observation. While there can be exceptions made, this immunity protects schools and districts on those kinds of trips.

Teacher Duties

In most cases, teachers fall under the term “in loco parentis,” which translates to “in place of the parent,” applying the legal principle that means that while a child is at school or a school-sponsored activity, the teacher has the responsibility of the student’s parents.

While this gives teachers some room when it comes to watching students and student activities, the doctrine stretches the boundaries and expectations for teachers and administrators when it comes to responsibilities over injuries that students sustain.

Prudent Teacher Doctrine

The courts can determine negligence and resulting liability under the prudent teacher doctrine, which outlines whether the teacher did something, or failed to do something that any prudent teacher would do under the same kinds of situations that led to an injury of a student.

Intentional Harm

Intentional harm is also one art that is investigated by the courts to determine if an injury was sustained by a student on account of deliberate action by a teacher or administrator. Injuries to children because of intentional acts often, if not always, lead to lawsuits by parents, and may even lead to criminal charges against the at-fault adult.

It’s important for parents to know their rights just as much as it is for teachers, school boards, and administrators to know theirs, and what the courts consider to be liabilities and fault.

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.