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16 J.L. & Educ. 435 (1987)
Negligent Liability Suits Emanating from the Failture to Provide Adequate Supervision: A Critical Issue for Teachers and School Boards

handle is hein.journals/jle16 and id is 445 raw text is: Negligent Liability Suits Emanating From The Failure To Provide Adequate Supervision: A Critical Issue for Teachers and School Boards DONALD H. HENDERSON* School districts have a duty to supervise the conduct of pupils on school property during school hours and during school-sponsored activities and to properly enforce relevant rules and regulations. ' However, the common law acknowledges that it is virtually impossible to provide constant and unremitting supervision to each pupil every second of the school day. Nevertheless, when a child is injured at school, the most frequent com- plaint brought against the teacher and the school district is that the child's injury was caused by the defendant's failure to provide adequate supervi- sion. These complaints usually contend that the degree of supervisory care was inadequate because: (1) the teacher was not present in the classroom or locus when the injury occurred; (2) the activity the pupils were engaged in should have been supervised more closely or should not have been per- mitted in the first place; or (3) the teacher was inattentive and failed to properly observe what was occurring in the classroom. Teacher Absence From the Classroom Although teachers are not immune from liability for injuries that occur while they are present in the classroom or locus, they are much more vulnerable to negligence litigation when injuries occur during their absence. Before determining the outcome of negligent liability cases, the courts customarily take into consideration (1) the reason and duration of the teacher's absence; (2) the distance the teacher was removed from his or her duty station; and (3) the teacher's past experiences with the class or one or more of its members. * Ed.D., University of Alabama, 1971; Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Instructional Support, University of Alabama at Birmingham. 1. Beck v. San Francisco Unified School Dist., 255 Cal. App. 2d 503, 37 Cal. Rptr. 471 (1964). 435

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