When our children go to school each day, we expect them to be safe. While not all injuries can be prevented, teachers and school staff are only human Afterall, we as parents at least expect to be contacted when our children do suffer injuries.
The Legal Duty Schools Owe To Students
School personnel owe a duty of care to our children commensurate with that of “a reasonable person” standard. That is a fancy way of saying staff members must do what a reasonable person would do in a similar situation.
So for example, when a six-year-old kindergarten student breaks her arm, her parents SHOULD BE CALLED. She SHOULD NOT be sent back to class without being given any pain medication, forced to spend enumerable hours remaining in the school day suffering with unimaginable pain.
When a six-year-old kindergarten student breaks her arm, her eleven-year-old sister SHOULD NOT be the person school staff rely upon to inform the parents that evening. No, a reasonable person would have called the child’s parents, or emergency contacts.
Unfortunately for our clients Raleigh Cox and Myleigh Andrews, school personnel of Woodland Elementary School, part of Elkhart Community Schools, were not acting reasonably on September 9, 2021.
Now, as a person having numerous family members themselves teachers, including my wife, I know it is not an easy job. Teachers work extremely long hours, for often little pay, and now are having to suffer the scrutiny caused by an ever increasingly polarized political environment.
However, when a six-year-old girl is forced to sit in class for over three hours, because school personnel could not be bothered to contact her legal guardian and inform them that their child suffered an injury, our firm had to act.
when an eleven-year-old girl suffers mental anguish from witnessing her younger sister in severe pain, because, for whatever reason, school personnel decided the responsibility to inform their parents of the injury of her younger sister should be placed solely on her shoulders, our firm had to act.
Lawsuit Against Elkhart Community Schools
As alleged in our most recently filed lawsuit, Raleigh Cox & Myleigh Andrews v. Elkhart Community Schools, on September 9, 2021, during recess, Ms. Cox broke her arm in three places. Suffering extreme pain and crying uncontrollably, school staff immediately escorted Ms. Cox down to the nurse’s office.
Unfortunately, the reasonableness of the actions taken by school personnel on that day ended there.
Ms. Cox’s legal guardian was not contacted. it is not that she was unavailable. No. it is that school personnel NEVER made any effort to contact her. Nor did school personnel make any effort to contact Ms. Cox’s two other emergency contacts on file.
Ms. Cox was not given any pain medication, since without having bothered to contact her legal guardians, it would have been illegal for them to administer medication to a six-year-old without parental consent. Of course this fact is simply an assumption. If we find that she was administered pain medication without parental consent, we will be making an amendment to include that illegal act in our complaint.
Instead, Myleigh Andrews, Ms. Cox’s eleven-year-old sister at the time, was pulled out of class. After making her way down to the nurse’s station, she witnessed her younger sister suffering severe pain. She was told to inform her parents at the end of the school day that her younger sister had suffered an injury at recess.
Both girls were then sent back to class. This means our client was forced to sit in class for over three more hours, while having an arm broken in three places.
We will learn the reason why school personnel decided making an effort to contact our client’s emergency contacts was too much of a hassle. Instead, they now have to deal with the hassle of answering for their negligence and/or recklessness as outlined in our complaint.
Contact The Lockwood Legal Group, LLC today!
If your child has suffered an injury at school or at another facility, such as a daycare center, it is crucial you contact an attorney immediately. Strict time limits are placed on personal injury claims, especially those involving state or local government entities. To learn more about these time limits you can review our section on statute of limitations, and tort notices.
We Are Here For Our Clients
We understand litigation is often daunting to those who are not attorneys. but rest assured, we will be here for you all throughout the process. No one fights harder for their clients then attorneys of The Lockwood Legal Group.
Free Consultation & Flexible Appointment Options
The initial consultation is FREE! So contact us right away. We can arrange a virtual appointment, in-person appointment at our office, or even travel to your home to meet you and your family.
Contact The Lockwood Legal Group for a free consultation today! Call US or send us an email.
This post is governed by our blog publishing disclaimer.