When your child is sent to school you want, and expect, to know that your child is safe. You are entitled to know that your child is safe while attending school and school administrators and teachers must do everything, reasonably possible, to avoid any accidents or injuries. What applies to schools also applies to camps and other day care facilities.

The law requires that schools must do everything reasonably possible to protect their students from accidents and injuries. Schools must provide a safe environment for their students and any dangerous conditions must be identified and removed. Students must always receive proper supervision even when off of the school grounds, for example, while traveling on a school-provided bus either to or from school, or during a school-sponsored extracurricular activity or trip, proper and adequate supervision must always be provided.

The legal doctrine that applies to the people caring for your child when they have control of child, which includes both school administrators and teachers, is called “in loco parentis”. This means that if your child is under the control of the school, whether at school or on a school-sponsored extracurricular activity, the school and its teachers have the responsibility and duties of the student's parents to safeguard your child from any harm. This means that the school may become legally responsible, or “liable” for any accidents and injuries suffered by a student while under the school’s supervision and control.

At the firm of Jaroslawicz & Jaros we have represented many parents for injuries suffered by their children who were injured while attending school:

Some of the cases we have handled include:

• A young boy who was dropped off by a school bus on his way home from school and told to cross the street without being properly supervised and was then struck by a car.
• A young man with special needs who was injured when the school bus stopped short and his seat belt opened as it was not properly secured.
• A young lady attending college who was assaulted in her dorm room by her “Resident Advisor”.
• A teenage boy who was told to walk unsupervised from his school to use an athletic field a ½ mile down a country road who was then struck by a car.
• A young boy who was assaulted by a bully while at gym class.
• A young girl with special needs who was sexually assaulted in a stairway of her school.
• A young boy who was injured while playing an inappropriate dangerous game while at a gym class.
• A young girl who was injured while playing an inappropriate dangerous game while in the school yard during recess.
• A young girl who was injured while playing on the monkey bars while in the school yard during recess
• A teenage boy who was assaulted by other students while in the school cafeteria.
• A young boy who was injured by a defective bathroom door latch.
• A young boy who was injured when a defective soccer goal post fell on him.
• A teenage boy who was sexually abused by his teacher.
• A young boy who was injured while playing soccer on a field that was not level.
• A young girl who was injured at camp when she slipped and fell due to a muddy condition.
• A young girl who was injured at camp when a bicycle fell on her.

These cases fall into a number of different categories, such as: roughhousing or inappropriate play, lack of or negligent supervision in the school, classroom or cafeteria; at the gym, playground or while playing sports; lack of proper security; sexual abuse by another student, teacher or school employee; school bus accident; a slip and fall accident or any dangerous condition with many other possible fact patterns.

The people who work at schools caring for your children must exercise a reasonable standard of care to prevent harm to those who have been placed into their care. Schools that are negligent or abusive with the children they are caring for must be held accountable.

If your child was injured due to the negligence of the school then you should consult with an attorney who has experience handling these types of cases. If your child was injured while attending school, while off school grounds, either while traveling to or from school on school-provided buses, or during school-sponsored, extracurricular activities, then you should call the experienced attorneys at Jaroslawicz & Jaros for a free consultation.

In many cases involving claims being made against a school a lawsuit must be filed before an applicable expiration date, known as a Statute of Limitations. For example, in the City of New York, a Notice of Claim must be filed within ninety (90) days of the incident, before a lawsuit may be filed. So, you must call an attorney as soon as possible to ensure that you do not waive your rights to compensation.

At Jaroslawicz & Jaros, we have more than 300 years of collective experience helping accident victims in New York recover compensation for their injuries. The clients we represent benefit from the personal attention of our knowledgeable and experienced personal injury and wrongful death attorneys.