Key Takeaways: Schools have a duty to protect students from harm. When another student sexually abuses a child, the question quickly becomes, “Should the school be held liable for inadequate supervision and negligence?” To determine potential liability, plaintiff and defendant attorneys must evaluate two key factors: whether the school met...
School negligence cases involving teachers, coaches, camp counselors, bus drivers, and other personnel resulting in injury to a child are ever-present in the news. Negligence that results in sexual abuse, death, injury, and sports accidents all present opportunities for costly negligence claims that may entail large settlements or grave jury...
In the field of education administration and student supervision, the current professional standard of care related to prevention, detection, investigation, and remediation of child sexual abuse and harassment is the result of a cumulative progression of events and cultural changes over several decades. This includes standards for maintaining appropriate policies,...
Part 1 of this series provided a general overview of the Title IX Amendments of 2020 (the new Title IX rule or the Final Rule), how they differ from previous amendments, a definition of sexual harassment, the role of the Title IX coordinator, and who should report allegations of sexual...
Public K-12 school districts, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions receiving public funds must operate their education programs and activities in a nondiscriminatory manner, free from discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity (Office for Civil Rights [OCR], 2021b). Since the new Title IX rule, known as the...
Educating students is not the only responsibility of school districts. Federal and state laws require schools to be proactive about protecting the civil rights of their students and to foster a positive learning environment free from discriminatory harassment and abuse. Several federal laws — Title VI of the Civil Rights...