Private School Breach of Contract question due to safety issue

Your recourse is to express your displeasure to the administration of the school. Your child was not harmed, and so you have suffered no damage. The institution's election to heed your concerns, or not, may become the measure of a future claim if the incident recurs.

The calculus upon which "neglect" is measured includes many factors. In this institution's situation, it may not include chimes, alarms or a fence. Then again, it just might. I recall asking a school principal whether his school had a fence for middle school aged kids that might wander off during the day. His response was "the nearest town is 5 miles, and we're on an 800 acre campus...they usually wander back for dinner."

I'm sure you belong to a parent organization. Start there. Request that the issue be studied, or even referred to outside experts. I've been through similar issues on a private school board, where educators wanted to chain doors shut during the day because a kid had wandered off to play on the jungle gym (a really stupid idea, by the way, in the event of a fire). And then be prepared to pay the tuition increase required to fund remedial measures you push through.

Wow. First and foremost, I am glad your son was not hurt! I am not sure that there is a breach of contract action (I would have to see what contract(s) exist between you and the school -- there might be) but this is certainly a negligence issue.

The problem is, if you child was found and returned unharmed, the damage caused by the school's negligence is limited to any emotional distress you (and perhaps, but doubtfully) your son has suffered as a result of the experience.

Further, you are now conscious of the school's problems, and if you continue to send your child to the school (knowing these issues exist) you may have a contributory negligence problem if he wondered off again and was harmed. The theory of contributory negligence is essentially (as applied to this case) that Yes, the school was negligent, but mom, you were negligent too because you kept sending your son to the negligent school knowing that he ran the very real risk of wondering out the door. Maryland is one of the few remaining contributory negligence jurisdictions, and that basically means if the plaintiff is even partially to blame, s/he cannot recover. Bummer.

There is little doubt that this school needs to remedy this situation, and do so soon, but other options (threats of public pressure, etc.) might achieve your goal better than a lawsuit. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to discuss this further.

Thanks,

Dan Ward

How scary!

If they refuse to correct this situation, you may have claims for negligence and, depending on the laws in your state, negligent infliction of emotional distress (on you, the parent, who is distressed). There may also be a breach of contract claim if there is a promise in the contract to keep the doors locked or with alarms. Finally, there may be a claim for breach of the implied covenant in the contract, on the theory that they have promised to keep your child safe during working hours.

However, the real incentive for the school to fix this situation is that they are now on notice that children can leave school unnoticed without those alarms. Thus, if it happens again and a child is hurt, their liability witll be inescapable.

Good luck and thank goodness your son is OK!

DISCLAIMER: The above is not legal advice and I am not your lawyer. I don't practice in your jurisdiction but have simply answered a question according to Avvo rules. You should not rely on my answer without checking with an attorney in your jurisdiction. Finally, my answering this question does not turn you into my client or me into your lawyer.