Running Head: TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

Tort and Liability in the Classroom

Sandra Lopez
College of Southern Nevada

Prepared for: Education 210, Professor Herington, Fall 2014

TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

Abstract
Ray Knight was a middle school student. Ray had many
unexcused absences and his school decided to take action and send
with Ray a letter letting his parents know that he would be suspended
for three days. Ray failed to give his parents the letter rather he threw
it away. On the first day of Ray Knights three-day suspension he was
shot while at a friends house. If Rays parents decided to file a lawsuit
against the school, would it go in favor of the Knight family or the
school? Through out the following discussion and the viewing of similar
cases it will be possible to determine the possible rulings as well as be
able to conclude who would win the case.

TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

Ray Knight a middle school student was shot one day while going
to a friends house. Knight was on a three-day suspension from school
when this happened because of various unexcused absences. Knights
parents were unaware of both the unexcused absences (although they
tried to be contacted through a letter sent to them) and were unaware
of his accident. If Ray Knights parents were to file a lawsuit towards
the school who would win?
A tort is described as a civil wrong, independent of breach of
contract, for which court will provide relief in the form of
damages(19). Ray Knight did for go a tort. He did not one, but many
wrong doings. For one he was or could have been skipping school
through out the unexcused absences he had. Second he failed to let his
parents know about the letter provided to them by the school. Lastly
he put himself in a situation where he was injured, but that situation
could have most definitely been avoided. The school where Ray
attended if undergo a lawsuit could argue many different points that
could potentially lead them to win. The school policies show that the
school must notify parents of unexcused absences through letter and
phone. The school only sent a letter however the school could not be
held responsible for negligence because the accident that Ray Knight
went through was not on school property, nor was it something that
the school could have prevented. Like Rays case there are many
others with similar situations. For example the Collete v. Tolleson case

TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

where a high school student attending a school in Arizona caused a car

accident where multiple motorists were injured. The accident occurred
while the high school student was out on lunch break from school.
School policies said that the students must have parental permission
and sign out before leaving campus. The student did not do or have
neither of those things. The motorists filed a lawsuit against the high
school student, but also towards the school for contributory
negligence. The courts decided that the school was not liable because
it imposed policies and they had no control over the decision/conduct
of the student. Like this case and the argument of the school towards
Ray Knight, the case Sanfrod v. Stiles where in this case a mother takes
to court the school where her son attended. The reason for such action
is because her son took his own life at his home. She filed the lawsuit
towards the school, accusing them of being part of the reason why her
son took his life. She however could not provide evidence of such
accusations therefore the case was granted to the school. The school
can argue Ray Knights case as well because the accident was
unforeseeable, the school could not control the conduct of Ray Knight
and it can bring out the issue that there was a letter provided. Through
these statements the school could potentially win the case.
The co argument through this case made by the parents
would bring out certain issues that could also lead them to win this
case. The parents of Ray Knight could argue for one the negligence of

TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

the school towards the protection of one of their own students. Another
argument made by the Knight family could be that they were unaware
of the absences, the letter sent to them and them not getting a proper
notification, which are made from school policies. Through this
argument from the parents of Ray Knight there are cases that too are
similar to this one. For example the case of Goss v. Lopez, where
students of a public school were suspended from school without proper
due process towards them and for such reason it ends with the
students winning the case. The Knights could argue that there was a
possible similarity to this case and that their son was not given the
proper due process through the suspension. Another case that could
benefit the Knights would be the case of Carr v. School Board of Pasco
County. In this case a male high school received a knee injury while
attending a mandatory event held by the school. This event was a
physical event where the students had to be in a foot race, the injured
high school student attended this event in hopes to impress the
coaches for he wanted to win himself a spot in the school wrestling
team. The male student was fine before the race, the injury occurred
while the race took place as he was racing he crashed into a metal
bench that was placed in the middle of the racing track. The parents
then proceeded to take the school to court. The school argued that the
bench was not on the track rather somewhere else, however the
parents of the injured student argued that it was not and that because

TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

it was not placed elsewhere is why their child got injured. The court
ended up ruling in favor of the injured student because it the bench
was school property, it did not belong somewhere that could harm a
student, and that it was a foreseeable accident. The school was seen
as negligent for not moving the bench and leaving it where it caused
harm. Through this case the Knights could argue like I said before that
the school was negligent for not putting enough effort into
communicating themselves with the parents of Ray more than one
time. Through these cases and the arguments that the parents of Ray
Knight could provide they could come out successful on this case.

Conclusion
This lawsuit to me only seems to be going one way, the schools
way. Although the Knights could have a good argument when arguing
the school being negligent and possibly arguing that Ray did not
receive proper due process. They too could argue for comparative
negligent, where basically both the parents take responsibility for the
accident happened and another percentage of the fault would go to
the school. However the school I believe would win this case for
obvious reasons. For example the school cannot be held responsible or
held as negligent because the accident was unforeseeable and also not
on school grounds or anywhere that could be considered of school
property. Secondly the school could have a very good argument

TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

because they did send a letter with Ray home saying that he had
unexcused absences. The parents never reached out to the school
incase that the unexcused absences were due to reasons that they
could provide. If the parents tried to fight for comparative negligence I
think the school could have more evidence to overthrow that coming to
the conclusion that the case would go in favor of the school.

TORT AND LIABILTY IN THE CLASSROOM

References
Cambron-McCabe, N., McCarthy, M., & Thomas, S. (2004). Legal Framework of Public
Education.In Legal Rights of Teachers and Students (Second ed.). Pearson Education.
Carr v. Schl. Brd. Passco Co., 3d05 U.S 2388 (2006)
CARR v. SCHOOL BOARD OF PASCO COUNTY. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-district-court-of-appeal/1143031.html
Collete v. Tolleson Unified School District, 54 P.3d 828 (ARIZ. CT. App. 2002)
Collette v. Tolleson Unified School District, 2002 WL 31027511 (Ariz. App. September 12, 2002).
(n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://electronicschool.com/SchoolLaw/COSA/Search/AllCOSAdocuments/CollettevTollesonUnifiedSchoolDi
strict20
Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S 565 (1975)
Sanford v. Stiles, 04 U.S 4496 (2006)
SANFORD v. STILES. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us3rd-circuit/1380734.html