Duty of A School to Supervise Children

We leave our children with teachers and administrator's every day. Surprisingly (or maybe not) it almost always goes well. However, there are circumstances where schools forget to watch children, or do not adequately supervise their interactions with other students. So what is a school's duty?

The standard of care that school authorities must exercise is the degree of care that a person of ordinary prudence, charged with comparable duties, would exercise under the same circumstances. Dailey v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist., 2 Cal. 3d 741, 747 (1970). In that case, a student died after falling over and striking his head on the ground during a slap fight. School had some 2,700 students, and only a handful of supervisors. There was no system to ensure adult supervision, and nobody knew who was supposed to be supervising. School held liable.

Clancy & Diaz, LLP is a personal injury law firm in Oakland.