Keeping your children in someone else’s care is one of the most challenging things parents have to do. When we send children to school, we hope they will be in good hands under the watchful eye of responsible teachers, bus drivers, crossing guards, principals, aides, coaches, and everyone who makes up the school community. Unfortunately, sometimes, a parent’s worst fears come true, and a child is injured in a school-related accident or, thankfully less frequently, due to a violent act at school.

Reasons parents in New York should call a school accident attorney are:

• Your child tripped or slipped and fell in the schoolyard.
• A playground injury has occurred due to faulty equipment or negligent

Maintenance.

• Your child was injured during an academic class or athletic activity due to careless training, negligent supervision or some hazards condition in the school grounds.
• The school did not stop another child from attacking your child.
• Your child was allowed to play games that were inherently dangerous.
• Sexual assault or abuse occurred at school, on school grounds, or after school.

School accidents and injury lawsuits are not limited to children who attend the school. Anybody present on the school grounds that was injured may have a claim.

COMMON TYPES OF NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCIDENTS

The most common causes of school injuries requiring hospitalization are falls and sports activities, accounting for 43 percent and 34 percent injuries. School injuries are most likely to occur on playgrounds, sports fields, and gyms, but they occur anywhere.

1. Injuries in sports:

   Sports are responsible for more than half of all non-fatal injuries at school. According to the CDC’s figures, about one million sports-related severe injuries happen to students between 10 and 17 years old. These sums include about 300,000 mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, and three-quarters of all spinal cord injuries in school.

The most dangerous activities for males, who suffer about twice as many sports-related injuries, include football, baseball, basketball, and wrestling.

Gymnastics, athletics and basketball cause the most injuries to females. Most injuries to both boys and girls occur during training, not matches.

 Injury rates in organized sports are about five times higher than those of students in physical education classes, but PE injuries still occur.

2. Playground accidents:

   Playground accidents pose a more significant threat for younger students. According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, schools record 13,000 injuries related to playground equipment each year.

Most playground injuries in New York city result from falls, either onto the ground or onto equipment. The National Program for Playground Safety recommends several measures to address this risk, including providing safer surfaces under equipment, creating safety barriers between playgrounds and traffic, and ensuring that equipment is designed to avoid entrapment.

Additionally, lack of supervision is associated with about 40 percent of all playground accidents. Schools can correct a problem by providing more responsible adults to watch students during recess, but unfortunately the city of New York puts money over the safety of our children.

3. Bullying:

   You can report bullying behavior or incidents between public school students on or off school property. You can also report bullying that occurs between public and private school students. Bullying is intended to cause harm and is directed at a particular person or group. It is usually repeated over time.

Bullying can take many forms and includes:

• Intimidation and aggressive behavior.
• Taunting someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship/immigration status, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, weight, or disability.
• Online harassment (“cyberbullying”).

4. Sexual misconduct by staff or other students:

   It is a huge responsibility to protect children from the egregious and damaging act of sexual abuse by teachers, school employees or other students. Every school administrator and staff need to have this as priority number one.

Sexual harassment can also take many forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, and even visual. A licensed and experienced sexual harassment lawyer regularly handles multiple cases involving unwanted sexual conduct and abuse. Examples of Such Cases Include:

• Unwanted Sexual Solicitation
• Violent Sexual or Physical Contact
• Inappropriate Touching
• Stalking
• Sexual Pestering
• Derogatory Comments or Jokes
• Sexual Gestures
• Verbal Sexual Abuse
• Sexual or Obscene Letters, Emails, or Text Messages
• Showing Sexually Suggestive Photos
• Obsessive Staring
• Verbal Sexual Propositions
• Making Threats after Sexual Refusal

5. Various Other Accidents: Vocational classes are another source of school accidents, accounting for seven percent of school injuries. Again, the power equipment can be hazardous if not properly maintained, including safety devices.

About 6,000 facility fires occur in schools across the country each year, resulting in an average of 140 injuries. In addition, field trips can also lead to school-related injuries, especially when students are not supervised correctly or if bus drivers are not sufficiently trained.

If school properties are not maintained and adequately lit, they can provide generous ground for assaults. And, like all public buildings, the insufficiently supported school can lead to slip and fall or trip and fall injuries.

WHAT TO DO AFTER AN INJURY ON SCHOOL PROPERTY

• Work with your child to write down everything that happened, even seemingly insignificant things.
• Seek medical attention, even if your child doesn’t seem in need of it at the time.

CAN I SUE IF MY CHILD HAS BEEN INJURED AT A NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOL?

Your child spends much of their time at a New York City public school, and during this time, the school is accountable for every child’s well-being. If your child is seriously injured due to administrative or personnel negligence, you have the right to sue.

Depending on the nature of the injury, your child may have suffered physically and mentally and emotionally. Unfortunately, the time to file a complaint against the city is quite limited, so obtaining legal counsel right away is critical. Most cases you only have 90 days to file a notice of claim, which is a prerequisite to suing the City of New York and/or The Board of Education.

Statute of Limitations

In most circumstances, a person injured in New York has three years to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, a different timeframe exists when a city agency is involved, such as the New York City Department of Education (DOE). You have only three months, or specifically, 90 days, to file a Notice of Claim against the DOE and the city of New York itself. 

Once the Notice of Claim is filed, the school district must investigate and respond within 30 days. After that, if they are old enough, the parent or the child must attend a 50-h hearing. During this, the claim is explained to the DOE and city officials. After that, you have one year and 90 days to file a lawsuit. Such cases are usually heard in the Supreme Court in the borough where the school is located.

However, if non-DOE employees are partly responsible for your child’s injury, such as another student or the manufacturers of dangerous equipment, the three-year statute of limitations may apply to lawsuits filed against them.

Multiple Parties

As noted, various entities may prove liable for your child’s injuries. That is especially true if your child was injured on playground equipment. While the school may not have safely maintained the equipment, it is also possible that it was poorly designed and dangerous.

The school is additionally liable for injuries if children were playing on the equipment without the supervision of a teacher or other school employee.

School Crime

Unfortunately, acts of violence occur far too frequently in New York City public schools. Whether or not the perpetrator was another student or someone else, you will likely have a basis for suing the school for negligence.

These crimes generally happen in schools with inadequate security, including a lack of metal detectors. Perhaps your child was attacked in a cafeteria, and no supervisor was present as required by law. The lack of supervision is also negligence on the part of the school. In cases where this happens to your child, you might file a lawsuit against either the perpetrator or their parents when the culprit is under 18 along with the school.

HOW DO PREVENT ACCIDENTS OCCURRENCE IN NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

   In New York, schools have a legal obligation to protect their students. There is a duty of care to ensure their pupils are safe. There are several fundamental ways schools can keep children safe:

• Securing the premises, including the playgrounds, have no hazards or dangers.
• Ensuring that the staff/student ratio is legally acceptable.
• Ensuring that staff is appropriately trained to supervise the students.
• They ensure that students who have demonstrated a dangerous potential are duly punished and kept under cautious watch during recesses and other times.

CONCLUSION.

Statistics reveal that about 4 million students suffer an injury at school that requires medical attention or is temporarily disabling each year. Estimates show that about a quarter of all injuries in children and adolescents occurs at school. More tragically, about 30 children die every year from injuries in school bus-related accidents — most of them while walking or getting on or off the bus, not riding in it. Another 4,500 or so students suffer injuries in accidents related to school buses.

An accident is something that happens with no one at fault. But an “accident” that occurs because the school did not have the correct procedures to keep the children safe is, in fact, no “accident” at all. Therefore, it is a “tort” for which the parents and the child can seek compensation in legal terms.