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Ray Knight v. Board of Education

Portfolio #3

Kelsey McCormick

Dr. Dale B. Warby

EDU 210 – 1001

23 September 2018

A middle school student, named Ray Knight, found himself to be suspended after a

number of unexcused absences. School procedures when dealing with suspension is to send a

written letter to the home as well as notification by phone. Unfortunately, the school did not

follow procedure and they only sent a letter to the home in which Ray threw away, leaving his

parents in the dark. Ray was accidentally shot on his first day of suspension going to a friend’s

house. As a result of this incident, Ray’s parents want to pursue liability charges against school

officials

Ray Knight’s parents argue that the school violated their duty by not properly following

the school policy procedures. They believe that if they were properly informed about their son’s

absences and suspension then the accident could have been avoided. To support the parent’s

argument let’s review the Jerkins Ex Rel. Jerkins v Anderson and the Pleasantville Board of

Education. In this case a 9-year-old boy, Joseph Jerkins, was released from school on an early

dismissal day, after walking off school grounds without adult super vision, he was hit by a car.

This incident paralyzed him from the neck down. One of the family members of the young boy

always walked him home from school. On this particular day, they claimed that they were not
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informed about the early dismissal. The Appellate Division saw that the duty was on the school

district to exercise care.

Similarly, in the Perna v Conejo Valley Unified School District case, the Court of

Appeals in California stated that “a school district may be held liable for injuries suffered by a

student off school premises and after school hours when those injuries are the result of the

school’s negligence while the student was on school premises”(Perna v Conejo Valley Unified

School District 143 Cal. App. 3d 292, 192 Cal. Rptr. 10,10 (1983).

The school board is likely to argue that it was not responsible to protect against any

injuries caused by a third party off campus. To support their case, let’s review the court case of

Monroe v. Basis School. Jennifer Monroe, then an 11-year-old, 5th grader at Basis was struck by

a truck in a busy intersection crosswalk while riding her bike home from school. Monroe was in

a comma for two weeks and suffered permanent injury from the accident. The intersection where

this incident occurred is about one block from school. The intersection is equipped with traffic

lights, walk and do not walk pedestrian signals/lights, and a clearly marked crosswalk. There are

no crossing guards present at this intersection. Monroe filed a complaint claiming that the school

was negligent for not posting a crossing guard at that intersection. Because Monroe left the

custody of the school, they did not had any obligation to protect her. In her case it was claimed

that “concluding school district had no common law duty to provide crossing guard at crosswalk

located opposite school” (Young, 52 P.3d 1230, ¶ 16)

In order for a plaintiff to win in negligence lawsuit four elements of negligence must be

established: duty, breach of duty, causation, and injury (Underwood, Webb, p 100). Before

damages can be recovered, all of these elements must be proven. In Ray Knight’s case I believe

that the court will rule in his favor. The school officials failed to follow proper procedures which
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breached their duty of care. If the school had made Ray’s parents aware of his abscences and

suspension the accident might not have happened. “When there is a series of events leading up to

an injury, the person starting that chain of events may be liable for the resultant injury if it was a

foreseeable result of his negligence (Underwood, Webb, p 105).

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References

Jerkins Ex Rel. Jerkins v Anderson, 922 A.2d 1279 (2007) 191 N.J. 285.

Perna v. Conejo Valley Unified School District, 143 Cal.App.3d 292, 192 Cal.Rptr. 10, 10

(1983).

Underwood, J., & Webb, L. (2006). Teacher's Rights. In School Law for Teachers (pp. 100, 105).

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Young, 52 P.3d 1230, 16 Teacher's Rights. In School Law for Teachers. Upper Saddle River,

New Jersey: Pearson Education.