Portfolio #3 Liability Off School Grounds 1

Portfolio #3

Liability Off School Grounds

Sarah Ashworth

College of Southern Nevada

October 12, 2016

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A middle school student named Ray Knight was suspended from school for three days due to

several unexcused absences. The school sent Ray home with a note about the suspension,

which in turn he did not give to his parents. Within the school district there are proper

procedures to follow in notifying a students parents of any suspension. The school is required

to send a letter that would be sent directly to the home. While Ray’s parents were unaware

that he was out of school, he went to a friends’ home. While at that home, Ray was

accidentally shot. His parents now would like to sue the district for negligent behavior and

hold them liable. Based on past cases, we can infer how the courts may rule in this case

presented now.

The first case not in favor of Ray’s parents being able to hold the district liable is Michell v.

Cedar Rapids Community School District (2013). In this case, fourteen-year-old D.E., whom was

in special education classes, left Kennedy High School early one day without permission to visit a

friend. While her mother knew she would be there after school, she did not suspect that her

daughter left early to do so. Kennedy has a attendance computer system that notifies the office if a

student is missing from a class period. While D.E.’s absence was logged, it was not reported to

her mother. A teacher had observed some sort of relationship with D.E. and another student M.F.

but reportedly did not discuss the relationship with anyone and had concerns that if D.E. was ever

absent that she may be with M.F. engaging in sexual activity. D.E. was in fact with M.F. whom

had taken her to his friend’s home later that afternoon where he raped her and his friend watched

while he shot at her with a BB gun. M.F. then proceeded to take her to the friend’s house that she

had told her mother about. When her mother discovered this realizing she never got notification of

her daughter being absent, she took the matter to court and they ruled that the school cannot be

held responsible for the actions of a 3rd party outside the school day and off school grounds. In

Ray Knight’s case per the example, the school should not be held responsible for a 3rd party action
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in which Ray was accidentally shot. Since the time of day is not specified for Ray’s case either, if

this happened before or after school hours the district can not be held accountable even more so.

Durant v. Los Angeles Unified School District (2003) is the second case that is against Ray

Knight’s parents and their ability to sue for negligence. Anthony Durant Jr. began attending

Banning High School. A group of students began to pick fights with Durant because they believed

he was slandering one of their friends. While the school, his parents, and other people saw the

potential danger in the situation the district did not allow for Durant to switch schools stating that

they would handle the situation. One morning Anthony showed up on campus just before school

hours. The campus is closed and the gates were not supervised at this time. One of the guys from

the group harassing Anthony had given him a “look” which in turn led to both of them going to a

sidewalk that was not on school grounds. The two boys had an altercation and the other student

shot Anthony in the neck. Durant’s parents felt that the situation was not handled properly as

promised but ultimately, the district ruled that it was a “unforeseeable shooting” and they were not

liable. For Ray Knight, the accidental shooting while at his friends home was not only

unforeseeable but also like it is described, and accident. Whether is was Ray, his friend, or an

unknown third party who was being unsafe with the gun it ultimately does not make the school

responsible.

The first case in favor of Ray’s parents is S.J. et al v. Lafayette Parish School Board (2009)

is in favor of Ray Knight’s parents and their pursuit to hold the district liable. In the case of S.J. et

al v. Lafayette Parish School Board (2009) a twelve-year-old girl C.C. was sexually assaulted by

an unknown attacker as she was on her way home from Lafayette Middle School. C.C. was kept

after school hours for a “Behavior Clinic” and the school would not allow students held over for

this Clinic to ride the late bus and informed the students of this. According to the case C.C.’s

mother was not notified that she was kept late for the Behavior Clinic and therefore was unaware
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that she were to be there to pick her daughter up that day or to find her other means of

transportation. C.C. wound up walking two and half miles home. On her way home she was

sexually assaulted. In testimony all parties agreed that the area was not safe for anyone to walk

through alone. The school board sided with S.J. et al due to the fact that the school was not only

negligent in notifying the parent that her daughter was held over but also because they would

deny student’s the right to use the late bus even when the student lived farther than 2 miles away

(which was against district regulations). C.C. did not want to ride the bus against rules, as she

feared she would get suspended. While Ray Knight was not injured in any route to or from school

it goes to show how important a proper notification to a student’s parents is. Since Ray’s parents

did not know of his suspension, they were not able to provide the proper means of supervision.

Secondly, Hoyem v. Manhattan Beach City School District (1978) is a case in which ten-

year-old Michael Hoyem who was attending summer school and left before classes ended. While

walking he was hit by a motorcycle and was crucially injured. The school did not stop Michael

from leaving school grounds and was negligent in providing the proper supervision to withhold

him from leaving before the end of the school day. The district is therefore held liable because of

the district’s inability to show proper care during school hours. Ray Knight’s school district is

liable in this case because of the improper notification. The shooting is also possible to have

happened during school hours. Since the parents were unaware of his absence they had reason to

believe that the school was properly taking care of their son during school hours.

I believe that in this particular case the school board will decide against Ray Knight’s

parents in their cause to sue the district for liability and negligent behavior. There may have been

improper communication between school and parent however, the student is the one who

coherently decided to obstruct the one form of notification from getting to his parents. Also, as a

student who was often truant, it is possible that he would have ditched school that day as much as
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any other day. An important part of this case is the fact that the shooting was not caused by

anyone that the school would have known about and cannot be liable for a third party’s actions as

described in the case Mitchell v. Cedar Rapids Community School District (2013). Furthermore,

in the case of Durant v. Los Angeles Unified School District (2003) the shooting of Durant was

unforeseeable by any party just as was Ray Knight’s accidental shooting. Since Ray was absent

without permission often, it is not directly the fault of the suspension that he was in this incident.

Therefore, the district cannot be held liable for this event in any way.
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References

Durant v. Los Angeles Unified School District (2003) (n.d) Retrieved October 12, 2016

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1460858.html

Hoyem v. Manhattan Beach City School District (1978) (n.d) Retrieved October 12, 2016

http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/hoyem-v-manhattan-beach-city-sch-dist-28098

Mitchell v. Cedar Rapids Community School District (2013) (n.d)

Retrieved October 13, 2016

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ia-supreme-court/1635949.html

S.J. et al v. Lafayette Parish School Board (2009) (n.d) Retrieved October 12, 2016

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-court-of-appeal/1422367.html

Underwood, J., & Webb, L. D. (2006). School law for teachers: Concepts and applications.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall