Children spend a significant portion of their day in school or at school-related activities where they should be safe and protected. While minor scrapes and bumps are a normal part of childhood, serious injuries at school often raise important questions about negligence and liability. When your child suffers harm due to inadequate supervision, unsafe conditions or the school’s failure to address known hazards, you have the right to take legal action to get the compensation you need to support your injured child.
Understanding when schools can be held liable for student injuries, what constitutes negligence and how to protect your child’s legal rights is essential for any parent navigating this difficult situation. The knowledgeable personal injury lawyers at Florin|Roebig can explain your legal options and determine whether you can use the school when your child has been injured.
Common Causes of School Injuries
School injuries occur for various reasons, each presenting unique liability considerations. From athletic activities and unsafe playground equipment to building maintenance issues and inadequate supervision, understanding how these injuries typically occur helps parents identify potential negligence. The following examines the most frequent causes of school-related injuries and the circumstances under which schools may be held responsible.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents are among the most common causes of school injuries. These incidents can occur on stairs with broken or missing handrails, uneven or cracked sidewalks, snow-covered or icy walkways that weren’t adequately cleared or wet floors without warning signs. Schools have a duty to regularly inspect their premises, identify hazards and promptly correct issues to prevent possible injuries.
Food Poisoning
Students may experience food poisoning if school cafeterias serve food that hasn’t been properly stored, prepared or handled. Contaminated food can cause serious illnesses, sometimes requiring medical treatment.
Schools and their food service providers must follow strict food safety protocols to protect students from foodborne illnesses, including regular handwashing, thoroughly cleaning food preparation surfaces, storing food at the correct temperatures and purchasing all food from reputable suppliers.
Sports Injuries
Sports-related injuries are a significant concern in school settings, especially among older students. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 283,000 children go to the emergency department each year for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) due to sports or recreation, with many of these injuries occurring at school.
While sports inherently carry some risk, schools must provide adequate supervision, proper coaching, appropriate safety equipment and well-maintained playing fields to minimize preventable injuries. Contact sports account for approximately 45% of sports-related TBIs, with football, basketball, soccer, bicycling and playground activities responsible for the most emergency department visits.
Playground Injuries
Playground injuries affect more than 206,700 children under age 16 annually, per the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Furthermore, the CPSC investigated 43 deaths related to playground equipment between 2014 and 2021.
Common causes include inadequate supervision, broken or poorly maintained equipment, insufficient impact-absorbing surfacing, protruding bolts or sharp edges and equipment that doesn’t meet safety standards. However, falls from playground equipment onto hard surfaces are the leading cause of serious playground injuries. Schools must regularly inspect playground equipment and ensure proper safety surfacing is in place and adequately maintained.
Fighting and Other Physical Altercations
According to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, approximately 8% of high school students reported being in a physical fight on school property in the 12 months prior to its 2019 survey. During this survey, over 7% said they’d been threatened or injured with a weapon and 1 in 5 said they’d been bullied on school property.
Schools have a responsibility to provide adequate supervision, implement effective anti-bullying programs, intervene promptly in conflicts and maintain a safe environment that minimizes opportunities for violence. When schools fail to address known safety concerns or provide adequate supervision, they may be liable for injuries resulting from fights.
Toxin Exposure
Students in older school buildings may be exposed to hazardous substances such as asbestos, lead paint or mold. These exposures can cause serious health problems and may result in long-term medical complications. Schools must conduct regular environmental assessments and take immediate action to correct any identified hazards.
Common Types of Injuries at School
The severity and type of injury largely depend on the circumstances of the accident and the nature of the incident. School injuries range from minor to severe, and even seemingly minor injuries can have long-term consequences for a child’s health and development.
Common injuries sustained on school property include:
- Cuts, scrapes and bruises
- Sprains and strains
- Fractures and broken bones
- Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
- Neck and back injuries
- Joint dislocations
- Dental injuries
- Illnesses from toxin exposure or food poisoning
- Eye injuries
- Burn injuries from lab accidents or hot surfaces
- Emotional trauma and psychological injuries
Regardless of the type or severity of injury your child sustained at school, if negligence by the school district or its employees contributed to the harm, it’s crucial to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney. A Florin|Roebig lawyer can help protect your child’s rights and ensure you receive fair compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering and other damages related to the injury.
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The Duty a School Has To Protect Your Child
Every school has a legal duty of care to students who attend the institution. This duty includes providing a reasonably safe environment and taking all reasonable actions to protect children from foreseeable harm. Schools are required to conduct regular inspections to find potentially dangerous conditions and eliminate hazards promptly once identified.
For example, if a portion of a sidewalk becomes cracked or uneven, creating a tripping hazard, the school must repair it within a reasonable timeframe after discovering the defect or after the defect should have been discovered through reasonable inspection. Similarly, if playground equipment becomes damaged or worn, the school must either repair the equipment or restrict access until repairs can be made.
The school’s duty of care extends to various aspects of the school environment, including:
- Maintaining safe premises and facilities
- Providing adequate supervision during school hours and school-sponsored activities
- Ensuring playground and sports equipment meet safety standards
- Implementing and enforcing safety policies
- Training staff and faculty properly on safety protocols
- Responding appropriately to known hazards
- Protecting students from foreseeable acts of violence
When a school fails to meet its duty of care obligations, and this failure results in a student being injured, the school may be held liable. Establishing negligence requires proving that the school knew or should have known about a dangerous condition and failed to take reasonable steps to address it.
What Is the Prudent Teacher Doctrine?
In addition to a school’s general duty of care, courts apply the “prudent teacher doctrine” when evaluating whether a teacher or school employee acted negligently. This legal standard asks what a reasonably prudent teacher would have done under similar circumstances to prevent the injury.
Under this doctrine, teachers and school staff are expected to exercise the same level of care and judgment that a reasonable, competent teacher would exercise in the same situation.
Factors considered include whether:
- The activity was age-appropriate.
- Adequate supervision was provided.
- Known risks were addressed.
- Safety rules were established and enforced.
- The teacher responded appropriately to developing situations.
If a teacher failed to take actions that a prudent teacher would have taken or took actions that a prudent teacher wouldn’t have taken, and this action or inaction contributed to a student’s injury, the school may be held liable. For example, if a teacher allows students to engage in a dangerous activity without proper supervision or safety precautions, and a student is injured as a result, the teacher’s conduct would be evaluated against what other reasonable teachers would have done in that situation.
What Are Intentional Acts at School?
Intentional acts are deliberate actions taken by an individual to cause harm to another person. In a school setting, intentional acts may include assault, battery, false imprisonment or sexual abuse that occurs on school property or during school-sponsored activities.
Schools can be held liable for intentional acts committed by teachers, employees or students under certain circumstances. Liability may exist when the school knew or should have known about a pattern of dangerous behavior by a staff member or student. The school may also be liable if it failed to:
- Conduct proper background checks on employees.
- Supervise adequately, creating an opportunity for intentional harm.
- Respond appropriately to reports of abuse or violence.
- Implement policies to prevent foreseeable intentional acts.
Intentional acts cases often involve complex legal issues, and schools may attempt to claim immunity from liability. Our legal team at Florin|Roebig can evaluate the specific circumstances and determine whether the school can be held accountable for intentional acts that harmed your child.
Examples of When a School Is Liable
Schools may be held liable for student injuries in numerous situations where negligence contributed to the harm. Understanding common liability scenarios can help you recognize when you may have grounds for a legal claim. Common examples of school liability include:
- Slip and fall accidents caused by improperly maintained facilities, such as broken handrails, wet floors without warning signs or deteriorating stairs.
- Toxic exposure to substances like asbestos, lead paint or mold in poorly maintained buildings.
- Inadequate supervision that allows dangerous activities or bullying to occur without intervention.
- School bus accidents caused by negligent school bus drivers or poorly maintained vehicles.
- Defective equipment injuries from broken playground equipment, faulty sports equipment or unsafe classroom furniture.
- Food poisoning from improper food storage, preparation or handling in school cafeterias.
- Sports injuries during poorly supervised activities or when safety equipment isn’t provided.
- Laboratory accidents due to inadequate safety protocols or supervision during science experiments.
- Assault or battery by other students when the school failed to provide adequate supervision or ignored warning signs.
- Building code violations that created unsafe conditions for students.
Each case requires careful examination of the specific facts to determine whether the school breached its duty of care and whether that breach caused the injury. Schools have significant resources to defend against liability claims, making it essential to work with an attorney who understands the complexities of school injury cases.
What To Do if a Child Is Injured at School
If your child was injured at school and you believe the school’s negligence contributed to the harm, taking immediate action can strengthen your potential legal claim and protect your child’s rights. The following steps can help support your case against the school.
Document the Injury Thoroughly
Take detailed photographs of all visible injuries as soon as possible after the incident. Capture both close-up images showing the severity of the injuries and wider shots showing the location. Continue photographing throughout the healing process to document the injury progression and recovery timeline. These visual records can be crucial evidence in establishing the extent of harm your child suffered.
Seek Immediate Medical Attention
Take your child to a healthcare provider to be examined as soon as possible, even if the injury appears minor. Some injuries, particularly head injuries, may not show immediate symptoms but can have serious consequences. Also, medical documentation creates an official record of the injury, its severity and the necessary treatment, which becomes essential evidence in any legal claim.
Report the Incident to School Officials
Notify school administrators in writing about the injury and request a copy of any incident report the school creates. Ask for details about how the injury occurred, who witnessed it and what actions the school has taken in response. Keep copies of all correspondence with school officials.
Gather Witness Information
If other students, teachers or staff members witnessed the incident, obtain their contact information and, if possible, get written statements describing what they observed. Witness testimony can be critical in establishing how the injury occurred and whether the school failed in its duty of care.
Preserve Evidence
If defective equipment, hazardous conditions or environmental factors contributed to the injury, document these conditions with photographs and videos if possible. If the school repairs or removes the hazard, this evidence may not be available later. Keep any damaged clothing, equipment or other physical evidence related to the injury.
Maintain Detailed Records
Create a comprehensive file documenting all aspects of your child’s injury and recovery, including:
- All medical bills and records
- Prescription receipts
- Physical therapy or rehabilitation costs
- Mental health counseling expenses
- Lost wages from time taken off work to care for your child
- Transportation costs for medical appointments
- School correspondence and incident reports
- Your child’s description of what happened
- Notes on how the injury has affected your child’s daily life and activities
Consult an Experienced Attorney Promptly
Contact a personal injury attorney who handles school injury cases as soon as possible. Since public schools are government entities with sovereign immunity protections, strict deadlines and special procedures apply to claims against them. An attorney can ensure you meet all required deadlines and notice requirements and build a strong case for compensation.
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Work with an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney
School injury cases present unique legal challenges that require specialized knowledge and experience. Public schools benefit from sovereign immunity, which limits when and how they can be sued. These protections create complex procedural requirements, strict filing deadlines and potential caps on damages that don’t apply to ordinary personal injury cases.
An experienced Florin|Roebig personal injury attorney can:
- Determine whether your case falls within an exception to sovereign immunity.
- Ensure all required notices are filed within strict statutory deadlines.
- Gather and preserve crucial evidence before it’s lost or destroyed.
- Obtain witness statements and expert opinions to support your claim.
- Manage the administrative procedures that may be required before filing a lawsuit.
- Calculate the full extent of damages your family has suffered.
- Negotiate with the school district’s insurance carrier and legal counsel.
- Advocate for your child’s rights throughout the legal process.
- Take your case to trial if a fair settlement can’t be reached.
Private schools, while not protected by sovereign immunity, may have other liability limitations or insurance considerations that affect your case. Our legal team can evaluate the specific circumstances of your child’s injury and determine the best legal strategy for your situation and the best outcome for a child injured at school lawsuit.
If your child was injured on school property and you believe the school’s negligence contributed to the harm, contact Florin|Roebig for a free and confidential evaluation of your child’s injury claim. Our legal team has the experience and resources necessary to take on school districts and fight for the compensation your family deserves.
