Legal Review Plan: Supervision of Athletic Activities

Outline of Review

1. Introduction 2. Objectives 3. Definitions 4. Mandated Reporters 5. The Reporting Process

Outline continued

6. School and District Support 7. Supreme Court Decisions 8. Questions and Discussions 9. Conclusions Drawn from Data 10. Recommendations Made

INTRODUCTION

A School Legal Review Plan: Minimizing Risks Related to Athletic Activities by Ensuring Proper Supervision

By John Brown Liberty University EDUC 647 School Law

Objectives of this Project

The purpose of this review is to identify areas of potential legal liability related to student participation in school-sponsored athletic activities and to recommend actions to minimize such liability.

Proposed Outcomes

• No athletes will suffer from a lack of reasonable supervision during team activities, such as travel, preparation, practice and play.

• As a result the school will be protected from liability in negligent supervision law suits which could result from unavoidable student injuries that may occur during the course of such activities.

Current Environment of Risk

• The school has 381 players and managers involved in athletics (2007-2008 school year) • Approximately 25% of these athletes participate in 2 sports, so there are actually 286 individual students participating in at least one sport. This is equivalent to one third of the total student body.

Definitions under this Legal Entanglement Concern

• Coach - a person who trains an athlete or a team of athletes.

• Player - a person who takes part or is skilled in some game or sport.

• Supervision - management by overseeing the performance or operation of a person or group.

• Tort - a wrongful act that results in injury to another's person, property, reputation, or the like, and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation. • Case Law - law established by judicial decisions in particular cases, instead of by legislative action.

• Action - a judicial proceeding brought by one party against another. • Compensation - something given or received as an equivalent for services, debt, loss, injury, suffering, lack, etc.

Definitions continued

• Duty of Care – legal responsibility to exercise that level of care which a reasonable person of ordinary judgment would use to ensure the safety of others.

• Negligence- the failure to meet a duty of care responsibility.

• Proximate cause- a direct causal link between the defendant and the claimant’s injury; it must be shown that the defendant’s behavior was a “material” and “substantial” factor in the injury that occurred.

• Reasonable person standard- a somewhat subjective variable from case to case and court to court by which it must be established whether a theoretical person with the defendant’s same knowledge, skills, and abilities as they relate to the situation that occurred would have recognized the need to exercise a higher standard of care in order to prevent the injury that resulted in the tort claim.

History of the Case Law Related to Supervision of School Athletic Activities

• The case law for this area follows from general case law dealing with lack of supervision of students who are engaged in school activities.

• Most school-related tort actions are brought under the claim of negligent supervision. Further, inadequate supervision of physical education and athletic activities is typical grounds for these tort claims.

• The courts generally find tort liability when it is shown that the risk of the injury that occurred was both reasonably preventable and foreseeable.

History of the Case Law continued

• Variables that play factors in the case law include the ages, relationships, and physical characteristics of the parties involved, and the degree of danger presented in the specific situation. These are all criteria in determining what the standard for reasonable supervision is in each case. • It should be noted that written waivers (parental consent forms) have limited legal effect and should not be relied on as unlimited protection from tort liability.

Mandated Behavior of Responsible Parties

• • • • • Coaches (to include any volunteer assistants) will closely supervise their athletes before, during, and after each athletic activity (including practices).

Coaches and volunteer assistants will provide reasonable instructions on the safe use of any facilities and equipment related to the athletic activity.

Coaches and assistants will provide reasonable instruction on personal safety practices related to the activity to be engaged in.

Coaches will ensure that appropriate safety equipment is provided and that it is in good condition at all times.

All Coaches and assistants should receive regularly scheduled training on requirements for each of the above.

What can happen if legal guidelines are not followed?

• Students can be injured or killed in avoidable accidents.

• Property can be damaged or destroyed.

• The reputation of the school, the team, and the staff can be harmed.

• The District, the school, and school employees can be held liable for damages.

How do I share my information?

• Presenting the Legal Review to School Administration.

• Presenting to the Athletic Department staff.

• Presenting to all Teachers as part of In Service training.

With whom should I share my concerns? This is the focal group.

• Coaches • Athletic Director • School Principal • Assistant Superintendent in charge of Athletics • Schools Superintendent • School Board

What should be done with the information received?

• Measures should be taken to ensure that the identified practices for fulfilling a satisfactory duty of care in supervision are communicated and followed.

• Any recent situations which indicated a potential lack of proper supervision should be reviewed and the gaps corrected to ensure they do not recur.

What should my role be?

• Present the legal review as needed, explaining the basis for concern and the recommended changes.

• Receive and review reports of athletic supervision irregularities from Athletic Director.

• Periodically observe coaches to evaluate and document performance compared to the communicated requirements.

• Advocate for additional changes to policy as the need becomes evident through on going observation and evaluation.

The Reporting Process

Develop forms to collect, document and track the following: • Regularly scheduled observations and evaluations of each athletic team.

• Parental feedback • Student feedback • Coaches’ feedback • School Administration feedback

School and District Support Needed

– Reiterate Coach’s duties section of the Athletic Handbook.

– Initial and follow up communication regarding recommended policies (to the extent that they are not already addressed in the Handbook).

– Improve Coach’s Salary Schedule to entice more faculty members to coach instead of using parent volunteers.

– Schedule training sessions to review the legal requirements and areas of concern.

– Require all coaches, prior to employment, to attend and pass the N.C. Coaches Clinic program, an online coaching program conducted by N.C. State University.

Case Law and the Courts

One benchmark decision in the area of student supervision and athletic related injuries is the case of Grant v. Lake Oswego School District. In this case the School District and a teacher were held liable for injuries that a 7 th grader suffered from the unsupervised use of a springboard. In finding liability, the court held that: • The student’s lack of judgment in using the equipment was

not

considered to be contributory negligence; • The injury suffered was

foreseeable

, related to the circumstances of the case in which the student had been newly instructed on the springboard and had ready access to the equipment; • The teacher’s

failure to warn

the students of the danger of hitting the low ceiling or doorway was held to be equivalent to a failure to supervise; • It was reasonable to find that proper supervision could have prevented this accident.

Grant v. Lake Oswego School District No. 7, 515 P.2d 947 (Or. App. 1973)

Case Law continued

•

“

The school owes the student the duty to supervise his activities. This duty becomes more imperative in the classroom, when risks of danger are foreseeable, and thus the degree of care higher, where young, inexperienced students are handling substances which for them are potentially dangerous

.” Connett v. Fremont County Sch. Dist., 581 P.2d 1097, 1103 (Wyo., 1978)

• The failure of a teacher to supervise pupils can be negligent conduct by the teacher.

Dailey v. Los Angeles School District., 470 P.2d 360, 364-365 (Calif. 1970)

Case Law continued

• The characteristics of children are proper matters for consideration in determining what is ordinary care with respect to them, and there may be a duty to take precautions with respect to those of tender years which would not be necessary in the case of adults.

Shannon v. Butler Homes, Inc., 428 P.2d 990, 995

• Age of the injured plaintiff is not the controlling element in determining liability vs. non-liability.

Moriss v. Ortiz, 437 P.2d 652, 657-658 (Ariz. 1968

)

Case Law continued

• The school, which advised and educated cheerleading squad about safety, voluntarily assumed of duty of care responsibilities for cheerleader who was injured while practicing.

Davidson v. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 42 N.C. App. 544, 543 S.E.2d 920, 152 Ed. Law Rep. 336 (N.C. Ct. App., 2001)

Questions and Discussions

• Do we have students at risk due to inadequate supervision; where are our current weaknesses?

• How do we close the gaps?

Conclusions From Law Case Review

• Teachers and school personnel have a duty to supervise students when a reasonable person would anticipate the need for supervision.

Connett v. Fremont

• Children require supervision.

Shannon v. Butler Homes, Inc

.

• High school-aged children also require supervision.

Moriss v. Ortiz

• School-related Coaching and athletics is reasonably assumed to require the need for supervision.

Davidson v. UNC-CH

.

• The lack of supervision of students engaged in athletics can result in accidents and injuries that then result in tort action.

Daly v. Los Angeles School District.

Conclusions From Law Case Review continued

• Schools, coaches, administration, and Superintendents and Boards can be held liable for injuries sustained from improper supervision.

Grant v. Oswego

• Coaches are required to offer instruction to prevent injury.

Thompson v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1. 127 S. Ct. 2738 (2007)

• A person who has no mandated duty of supervision but who volunteers in a position of responsibility for a student thereby assumes the same legal responsibilities as a school employee.

Greene v. City of New York, 566 N.Y.S.2d 40 (1991)

Conclusions Drawn from all Sources Considered

•

Students that are injured will sue

. In the case of

Brooks v

.

Board of Education of City of New York, 1963).,

a seventh-grader was injured in a gym class during a game of line soccer. The suit claimed that a physical mismatch was created by the negligent pairing of the students. The court ruled for the plaintiff, saying that the pairing for such a "hazardous" game should have been more closely supervised.

•

Juries decisions are subjective

– “Another aspect of these cases that must be recognized is that when dealing with juries, the determination of danger and hazard is quite subjective” (Lenich, 1987). •

Children will act differently when no supervision is present

classmates.”

Kush v. City of Buffalo

, 449 N.E.2d 725 : “When a large number of children are gathered together…without any effective control or supervision, it may reasonably be anticipated that certain of them may so act as to inflict an unintentional injury upon themselves or their

Recommendations

1.

Ensure that the coaches’ duties section of athletic handbook includes statements about supervision of students under the coaches control.

2.

Encourage faculty and staff to accept coaching positions to limit the number of outside coaches.

3.

Require coaches to attend training seminar prior to beginning of their seasons. Training to include discussion on supervision requirements with coaches’ signatures included. Coaches will not be paid unless said signatures have been obtained. Unpaid assistant coaches will also have required attendance.

Recommendations continued

4. Require principals to regularly evaluate coaches during their seasons.

5. Require coaches to sign in and out just as faculty and staff are required to do.

6. Ensure that a policy is in place for handling violations of coaching duties requirements.

Recommendations continued

7. Coaches for sports with high-risk equipment, such as weights, should test each student on the safe use of that equipment and have them sign a set of “safe use rules” before being permitted to use it regularly, and particularly where there is anticipated to be any periods of unsupervised use.

8. Parent and students should be encouraged to discuss any concerns about supervision that come up during the course of a season.