Subject: a Field Trip Night Mare

First I am so sorry to ehar that your son was injured so severly during his first field trip. The school certainly did a poor job of not only supervising him but in thier actions following the injury. I found the following at Legalmatch.com - I would get the opinion of another attorney ( if you are in the West Palm Beach area, look up Evan Fetterman, he is an excellent personal injury attorney)

Can a School Be Held Responsible for Injuries to a Student During a Field Trip?

It depends. Generally, courts will look into the facts of a particular case to determine whether or not a school should be held responsible for the students’ injuries. There is no set rule which necessarily requires or bans recovery for the student’s injuries.

What Factors Does a Court Look Into to See if a School Should Be Liable?

Certain factors that courts use can vary, depending on the specific case at hand and normal practices within the state. The following are examples of some common factors that can influence a school’s liability for injury to a student during a field trip:

The age and experience of the students involved: Is this a kindergarten class or a group of undergraduate students?
The location of the field trip: Was the class visiting a museum or an industrial factory?
The person responsible for the injury: Was it an employee of the school or someone else?
Injured students relative fault in causing the injury: Was the student primarily responsible for getting themself hurt?
Precautions taken by the school: Did the school provide supervision and direction?

Does Being a Public or Private School Student Make a Difference?

Yes. There are many state laws that bar public school liability for injuries during a field trip. Therefore, a private school student who is injured during a field trip technically has a better chance of recovering for their injuries. However, it is important to note that many private schools use permission slips, which usually include liability release forms.

Does a Liability Release Form Prevent Recovery for a Student’s Injury During a Field Trip?

Most of the time, yes. However, liability release forms will not prevent recovery for cases dealing with gross negligence (i.e. when the school fails to take safety measures even a careless person would take) or willful/wanton misconduct (i.e. when the school intentionally acts in ways that can cause injury).

How Can a Lawyer Help Me?

If you’re child was injured during a school field trip, you should contact a personal injury attorney to learn about your rights. A lawyer can tell you about your state’s local field trip laws, and analyze your case to determine the likelihood that you’ll be able to recover.

Good luck & please do keep us updated!!

You signed a consent form for a supervised trip for your child. The second that the trip entered the realm of "unsupervised" they were in violation of that contract (any decent lawyer would see straight through a 4-line child field-trip consent form). The teacher is not only legally liable for not ensuring proper supervision (per their part of the legally binding agreement), so is the school.

In addition SHE is personally guilty of child neglect and child endagerment, both of which are grounds for dismissal. Likely, financial liability resides with the school and whatever insurance covered the trip. You need to get a written statement from the "nurse" who helped because you cannot testify to what she has told you, but she can testify to what she has seen.

Poor you, okay it sounds like the school is trying to shift the blame. We send our kids to school to be taught, with the piece of mind that they will be safe and taken care of. When they are not taking responsibility for a child's safety they are liable. NAIL THEM, they should be ashamed of themselves. You make sure you hand out suits to everyone invovled, as a person signs up for chaperone they should know they are now responsible for their charges. I would make sure that the school is involved in this suit, I would make sure the school board understands what the message here is, that your kid's problems are his own even when a nurse was concerned with the child's health. There is no exuse for this. Good Luck, Jen
Also maybe get media help, you know like the problem solvers at the news stations.

Check out www.forthepeople.com - go for a consultation

If you were able to get the nurse involved to prove the school chaperone was first of all not even there, and second of all was told by a nurse to call an ambulance and refused and third of all neglected to tell you what happened, then you could probably prove the school neglegent, therefore voiding the signed paper. They provide chaperones to keep the kids safe and obviously, excuse my language, she did a shitty job!!! Good luck. Keep me posted.

Ok, on the one hand your lawyer is right...you did sign a release form stating that you would not hold the school district/school/teachers responsible for any injuries on the field trip. But that's not the issue here...the issue is their gross negligence...first in not supervising properly, second in refusing an ambulence, third in not informing you of the entire situation, and fourth in saying they did everything correctly. They obviously did not...I am a former elementary school teacher & that is the worst organized/supervised field trip I've ever heard of! Get new legal representation & sue them! Good luck.

OMG!!! That is terrible my heart goes out to you and your son....I was wondering if they were on a field trip and an emergeny like this occured or any other for that matter, in this day-n-age who doesnt have a cell phone? With that many chaperones not 1 had a cell phone? ridiculous!!!!
My sis-in-law is a lawyer, I will ask her that question and see if I can get you any advice? I also have a couple of attorneys locally who are patients of mine I will see if I can contact them too, Im not sure what type of lawyers they are but I will try to get some advice for you!!
Im appauled by what has happened to your family....
AGAIN.... my heart to you......
Best of Luck!!
~M.~