• In Washington State, the Court of Appeals of Washington refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by parents of a student who was killed during a field trip consisting of a teacher taking his class on a short walk alongside a busy road in violation of school policy. The court ruled that a trial was necessary to determine whether the accident, caused when a driver fell asleep behind the wheel and drove his vehicle onto the sidewalk, was foreseeable. (Meyers v. Ferndale School District)
• In New York, the Supreme Court refused to dismiss a negligence lawsuit bought by a student who was attacked by another student at school. The court noted that the victim gave notice of his fear of assault to administrators, staff, and security personnel. The legal standard in such cases is that a “school has a common law duty adequately to supervise its students, as they have physical custody of the students, and stand in for their parents while in attendance.” At trial, the school will have to show that it lacked sufficient knowledge of the danger such that the assault was not foreseeable and that the assault occurred so quickly and spontaneously that even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it. (Cummings v. South Country Central School District)
• In North Carolina, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina dismissed a parent’s lawsuit claiming that repeated bullying and harassment denied her children their right to an education. The parent claimed that despite two-years of complaints, school officials’ response was that school discipline policies would “take time” to work. The court held that the North Carolina Constitution that provides that, “the people have a right to the privilege of education,” was “strictly confined to the intellectual function of academics,” and did not created a private right of action for abuse and injury claims. (Deminski v. State Board of Education)
• In Illinois, a school resource officer used pepper spray to break up a fight involving a group of at least five girls in a middle school lunch room. School officials later confirmed that its officers receive annual tactical training on deescalating campus disruptions of groups of students with pepper spray.
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