When you drop your child off at the bus stop or curbside each morning, you probably assume they’ll be learning and playing in a safe environment. When you receive a call that your child has been injured at school, you’re likely terrified and filled with many questions about who’s to blame and if the school was negligent in any way.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 4 million children and adolescents are hurt each year at school. And while most of these injuries are minor and fatalities are rare, many of them are preventable. The attorneys at Case Barnett Law know that many child injuries at school are due to negligence—negligent maintenance of equipment and buildings, lack of adequate supervision, and lack of attention to hazardous conditions and situations. Here, we discuss premises liability on school property and seeking compensation when your child is injured due to unsafe school conditions.
Causes of Child Injuries That Can Happen at School
There are many common injuries that happen on school property—most of them non-life threatening. However, many of these injuries require medical attention and are caused when the school failed to provide sufficient supervision and care for their students. Here are some of the most common accidents and injuries:
- Equipment defects. Approximately 200,000 students are taken to the ER each year due to playground accidents. Many of these injuries were a result of inadequately maintained equipment and/or equipment degradation. This equipment may have extending, protruding, or deteriorating parts that can harm your child. Exposed bolts and screws, rusty metal, splinters, cracks and gaps, inadequate surfacing to cushion falls, broken or missing safety features, and weak areas that need reinforcing are all potential hazards. Every school should have repair protocols to address any kind of equipment hazard. It’s not enough for the school to post a warning or hazard sign to indicate a dangerous condition. Schools must show they took reasonable steps to fix a known hazard within appropriate timeframes based on the severity of the risk. When these protocols aren’t followed, children can suffer cuts, lacerations, puncture wounds, infections, fall-related concussions, and broken bones due to equipment defects. Schools that fail to perform regular safety checks or update playground equipment that’s old and run down may be liable when a child is injured while playing on this equipment.
- Unaddressed hazards. It’s common for there to be hazards in school hallways, stairwells, bathrooms, and cafeterias, especially during the winter. When ice and snow get tracked into the school, it’s the responsibility of the maintenance staff to make sure any wet spots and puddles are cleaned up. It’s also important that ice and snow be cleared from walkways outside and school entrances. Damaged floor tiles with lifted edges and ripped carpeting in libraries or study rooms can also create trip hazards. The maintenance staff may document these conditions in a daily report, but often they’re put on a “to do” list for long periods of time and never get addressed. Additional hazards can include exposed electrical wiring, broken glass in a classroom or where there is a lot of student traffic, or unstable structures that could tip over or collapse on students—such as a statue or display. When the maintenance staff overlooks these hazards or fails to address them, students can be seriously injured. Slip and fall injuries can result in broken bones, sprains and strains, facial and dental injuries, and bruises.
- Sports-related injuries. When your child is injured while participating in a sport, liability is always in question. It might be that the coach pushed your child beyond reasonable physical limits or failed to provide adequate hydration during practice. Most parents realize that allowing their child to participate in a sport brings with it inherent risks; however, schools must ensure that their coaches follow the rules, train students safely, and provide prompt medical attention when an injury occurs. Coaches who are negligent in their responsibilities can expose their schools to liability.
- Accidents in the classroom. When students aren’t properly supervised, accidents can happen, especially in science labs and classrooms used for special research. Science labs present special risks because students often use beakers and Bunsen burners and work with chemicals. It’s especially important that teachers be present when students interact with these materials and equipment and equally important that they follow safety rules to help prevent burns and other injuries. Adequate supervision is different for different student age groups. Requirements vary by age and activity. Elementary school students typically need more supervision than high school students; however, appropriate adult presence is needed in every classroom, especially when students are involved in higher-risk activities such as lab work, physical education, and recess.
- Transportation accidents. These can include accidents in the school’s pickup and drop-off zones, as well as on the bus. The school is responsible for ensuring that students are safe when being transported to and from school property. If bus drivers haven’t had adequate training, the buses aren’t properly maintained, or there is driver confusion due to the traffic patterns at the school, they can all contribute to injuries.
School Negligence and Your Child’s Injury
Your child’s school has a legal duty to provide a safe environment for students. This means they must maintain reasonably safe premises for students, staff, and visitors. Thus, it’s important that the school conduct regular safety inspections by personnel who are able to identify all the potential risks before they result in an accident. Because schools need to document their inspections, failing to do so can become evidence in a premises liability case. If a school can’t prove they made consistent safety checks, they may be found liable for a student’s injuries because of neglecting regular maintenance.
If there’s a safety concern that doesn’t present an immediate dangerous risk, the school should resolve the condition within 1-2 weeks. For example, a loose staircase handrail or a minor leak in the roof probably wouldn’t cause catastrophic damage right away. However, if your child’s school delayed addressing these issues for months, they could be held liable for an injury.
Proving Liability for School Premises Injuries
If your child was injured on school grounds and you’re seeking compensation, it’s important for you to know some of the elements required to establish premises liability and build a strong case. Here are some important points you need to show:
- The school knew or should have known about the hazard. This might be proven through maintenance reports or prior requests to fix the hazard. Students or staff may offer testimony that they observed the hazard in the past.
- The school was negligence in failing to address the risk in a timely manner. Schools must take reasonable steps to correct a hazardous condition once it’s identified. A school can prove they took those steps with a repair timeline that was documented by maintenance.
- Show causation. It’s important that you show there was causation between the hazardous condition and your child’s injury. You’ll want to provide medical records, doctor notes, and testimony that help connect the injuries to the safety failures of the school. It’s beneficial to have witness accounts about the accident or prior knowledge of the hazard.
- Documentation of damages. Medical records, treatment plans, and expert testimony regarding long-term impacts will help establish how much compensation you deserve. Beyond physical injuries, claims may include costs for emotional trauma, educational accommodations, and future medical needs resulting from the incident.
Contact Case Barnett Law When Your Child Is Injured at School
Your child’s school injury can be terrifying, and you may not know what to do or how to seek compensation for damages. Our attorneys can play a major role in investigating the incident and pursuing legal recourse. You can rely on the legal team at Case Barnett Law to help collect the necessary evidence to establish liability, negotiate for maximum compensation, and provide you and your family with guidance and support throughout the legal process. Read our case results to see how we’ve helped other clients with their school premises liability cases.