Legal Brief for October, 2013

School Issues - Part 2

In last month's Brief we looked at the liability that parents have for any damages that their children may cause to school property.  The chain of liability is however not just from parents to the schools.  There are also areas in which schools can be liable to the students attending the school.  Sometimes accidents happen and students are injured as a result of what has happened.  The question which arises is whether the school has been negligent in any way in causing or allowing the accident to happen.  Sometimes this can be a complicated situation for a court to sort through.  A recent case from Ontario illustrates this difficulty.

A student was injured while on the playground at the school by a roller blade skate that was swung by another student.  Unfortunately the injuries suffered by the student was very serious and a claim of roughly $5 million was made against the school board.  The facts brought forward at the trial of the case indicated that there was one teacher on supervision duty in the school yard at the time, and that it was a small school, with only about 150 students in total.

The court had to consider whether the school had done all that was "reasonable and prudent" to safeguard the interests of the students while on the school play ground.  The court ruled that the school had in fact done all that it could.  In making its ruling the judge stated that:

• "In such as case as this, involving allegations of negligence against school authorities, it is good to remember that, while school boards and principals have a high standard of duty and care, the duty is not of an insurer or guarantor.  Not every accident or injury in a school or on school property can be averted."

The judge further stated that:

• "Here Lindsey [the injured student] was struck in the vanishing moment, suddenly and without warning.  The striking would not likely have been prevented, even if two or more teachers were present in the schoolyard."

Sometimes, accidents are just that, accidents, and legal liability is simply not an appropriate measure for a court to attach to a party that a claim is made against.

If anyone is interested in reading more on this question the name of the case is: Rollins v. English Language Separate School District School Board #39 (Ontario Supreme Court, July 13, 2009).