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EDUCATION EXPERT BLOG: EDUCATION LAW AND SCHOOL LIABILITY ISSUES

School coaches have a duty to protect athletes from harm, including emotional or physical harm that may result from locker room hazing. High school hazing in athletics has many beginnings — the most prominent being an attitude of superiority among senior athletes and the belief that a weaker or younger...

When a student personal injury in a public school triggers litigation, plaintiff and defendant attorneys must address the concept of governmental immunity. In general, governmental immunity shields public schools from tort litigation and liability. Governmental immunity is not universally applicable, however, depending on how the facts of a specific case...

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to college and university administrators about implementation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in regards to campus sexual assault cases. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in...

Harassment in schools can occur when a student is discriminated against based on national origin, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or other identifiable class, creating a hostile learning environment for the student. It can also arise when a student experiences sexual demands or advances from a school staff member...

The relationship between private schools and their students is very different than the one that exists when a student is in a public school. In private schools, the relationship is contractual in nature. The contract is expressed or implied in written documents, such as promotional literature, student applications, and student...

For schools, daycare centers, after-school programs, and camps, children with disabilities often present significant supervisory challenges. If a special needs child is seriously hurt or killed at school because of failure to address their needs adequately, negligent supervision may be viewed as a proximate cause. But what constitutes reasonable supervision...

The uncertainties surrounding the Massachusetts teacher murder of Colleen Ritzer last month and the death of student Kendrick Johnson in Georgia earlier this year illustrate how the unexpected can occur and school safety and security is a serious concern schools administrators are faced with on a daily basis. Schools have...

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...

Bullying Legal Standards Over the last several years, U.S. states have enacted laws that require public schools to develop policies and procedures to stop bullying.  New Jersey may have the toughest anti-bullying law in the nation, requiring schools to include in their policies that a teacher can be disciplined for not...

Schools have a duty to protect students from harm, including the harm inflicted or created by its own staff. While acts by a staff member resulting in injury to a student generally fit into the category of negligence, a teacher or an administrator as a state actor can generate a...