Jerkins v. Anderson, A-49-06 (N.J. June 14, 2007)
In a unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that schools in that state have a duty of reasonable care for supervising students’ safety at dismissal times. Joseph Jerkins, a third grader at South Main Street School in Pleasantville, was left quadriplegic after being struck by a car when he ran into street after school had been released. His family claimed they were not made aware of the early release and sued Pleasantville Public Schools (PPS) for negligently failing to carry out its duty to provide reasonable supervision. The trial court dismissed their claim, concluding that school officials did not have a duty of reasonable care for Joseph's safety after school. An appellate court reversed, ruling that school officials had a duty to ensure that student was properly supervised upon release from school.
The supreme court found that the imposition of a duty of reasonable care is predicated first on the foreseeability of harm to a potential plaintiff, and then on accepted fairness and policy considerations. Regarding the first factor, the court found that students face foreseeable dangers during the school day that continue at dismissal when they leave school grounds. Noting that the risk is higher with younger children, the court concluded that it was foreseeable that a young student leaving school grounds without adult supervision might be vulnerable. Turning to the second factor, the court weighed four factors: (1) the relationship of the parties; (2) the nature of the attendant risk; (3) the opportunity and ability to exercise care; and (4) the public interest in the proposed solution. The court first concluded that because parents entrust their children to the care of schools, which are responsible for ensuring the safety of children in their charge, it logically flows that school officials must reasonably supervise children throughout the school day, including dismissal time. The second factor also favored imposing a duty, because the risk from the inability of younger children to understand and appreciate dangers is reduced by supervision. The court next found schools are both “well-suited and well equipped” to oversee dismissal. As for the last factor, the court found the state has a strong interest in protecting children and a well-established goal of ensuring student safety during school hours.
Having concluded that schools have a duty of reasonable care to supervise dismissal, the court held that fulfilling that duty requires a school to: (1) adopt a reasonable policy concerning dismissal and the manner in which students of different ages will be dismissed; (2) provide adequate notice of that policy to all parents or guardians; and (3) effectively implement that policy and adhere to parents’ reasonable requests regarding dismissal. The court suggested what the policy should contain at a minimum but left the details to the “sound discretion” of school officials. The school district bears the burden of informing parents about the dismissal policy and the procedures put in place, such as after-school programs, to implement the policy, the court added, and is responsible for informing parents about the usual circumstances at dismissal in regard to students released to walk home. The court emphasized that it is the school district’s duty to inform parents that they must instruct the school if they do not wish allow their children to be unescorted by an adult or designated older child. Based on the sparse factual record available, the court concluded the case should be remanded to a jury for consideration of the factual issues applying this standard.
Jerkins v. Anderson, A-49-06 (N.J. June 14, 2007)
[Full opinion]
[Editor’s Note: In the news article below, Mike Yaple of the New Jersey School Boards Association calls the decision reasonable but says it could result in costs to some districts for things like additional staff monitoring of dismissals. The appellate court’s opinion in the case is summarized at the second link.]
Newark Star-Ledger
By Kate Coscarelli
[Full story]
[NSBA School Law pages on Jerkins v. Anderson]