Reasonable supervision in the city: enhancing the safety of students with disabilities in urban (and other) schools.

• Author: Daggett, Lynn M.
• Position: Introduction through I. The Scope of the Duty to Reasonably Supervise Students B. Foreseeable Risks 2. Safety-Related Characteristics of Urban Schools b. Student Population Issues, p. 499-529

Introduction I. The Scope of the Duty to Reasonably Supervise Students A. A School's Duty of Reasonable Supervision B. Foreseeable Risks 1. Foreseeable Risks for Students with Disabilities a. Foreseeable Safety Risks and Student Special Education Plans b. Foreseeable Safety Risks, Safety Laws, and School Policies c. Foreseeable Safety Risks Revealed by Student Injury Claims 2. Safety-Related Characteristics of Urban Schools a. Premises Issues b. Student Population Issues c. Staffing Issues d. Special Education Delivery Issues II. Meeting the Duty to Reasonably Supervise Students with Disabilities in Urban (and Other) Schools A. Considering Student Safety While Complying with Disability Law. 1. Avoiding Illegal Disability Discrimination 2. Special Education Law LRE Requirements B. Disability Training and Access to Disability Resources for General Education Staff 1. Current (Lack of) Disability Training of General Education Teachers and Staff 2. IDEA Personnel Training Requirements 3. Training on Bullying 4. Training on Response to Student Health Crises 5. Training for School Security Personnel 6. Training About High-Risk Activities 7. Identifying Internal School Resources for Staff C. Systemic Safety Planning 1. Conducting a Safety Audit 2. Creating a Safety Audit Team 3. Examples of Premises- and Neighborhood-Related Areas for Audit 4. Examples of High-Risk Activities as Areas for Audit 5. Follow-Through. D. Individualized Safety Planning for Some Students with Disabilities 1. Looking Beyond the Student's Label to the Contents of the IEP to Ascertain any Individual Safety Needs. 2. Responsibility for Individualized Planning. 3. Identification of Risks for an Individual Student in Certain School Activities and Compliance with Disability Law 4. The Role of IEP Contents in Individualized Safety Planning. 5. Using IEPs to Identify and Plan for Any Safety Risks Posed by the Student 6. Gathering and Use of Safety Information from Parents 7. Implementation of Individualized Safety Plans E. Sharing Individual Student Safety Information 1. Sharing Information Beyond IDEA Requirements 2. Responsibility for Information-Sharing F. Staff Supervision 1. Background Checks 2. Appropriate Supervision of Substitute Staff 3. Supervision of Employees of Bus Companies and Other Contractors 4. Active Monitoring of Staff 5. Supervision of Self-Contained Special Education Classrooms Conclusion Introduction

The Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) district educates students in the city of Tampa, Florida and surrounding communities. (1) One of the largest school districts in the country, HCPS serves more than 200,000 students, (2) including more than 29,000 students with disabilities. (3) With a $1.7 billion operating budget, (4) HCPS operates more than 250 schools (5) and employs a staff of more than 25,000. (6)

In 2012, in this single school district, two students with disabilities suffered accidental deaths. Isabella Herrera was a seven-year-old student living with a neuromuscular disorder that confined her to a wheelchair and made it difficult for her to hold her head upright. (7) Isabella suffocated and died on her HCPS school bus. (8) In a pending lawsuit against HCPS, Isabella's parents claim several wrongful acts by the HCPS. (9) Isabella's parents assert that although they repeatedly expressed concerns, HCPS failed to train bus staff, of which there was a "significant" shortage, (10) to position Isabella properly. (11) They claim that HCPS's failure to properly position and secure Isabella on the bus caused her airway to become obstructed. (12) The parents also assert that when the HCPS bus attendant saw Isabella was not breathing, the attendant did not call 911 or provide CPR assistance, but instead phoned Isabella's mother to come to the bus and deal with her daughter's health crisis. (13)

Jenny Caballero, a middle school student with Down Syndrome who had "very limited verbal skills" and was "fascinated by water," wandered away from her school gym to a nearby pond and drowned. (14) Jenny was at the gym with her class, which consisted of twenty students with intellectual disabilities, along with more than 100 other students attending several general education gym classes. (15) She wandered away while six aides were watching the other special education students. (16) When Jenny wandered out of the building, one aide was taking a smoking break while others rested on the bleachers. (17)

Unfortunately, Isabella and Jenny were not the only students with disabilities injured while attending HCPS. (18) Some injuries were intentional; for example, a video recording shows that in September 2012, a HCPS bus driver "literally kicked off [an eight-year-old] special needs student, breaking her ankle." (19)

Even more unfortunately, the incidents at HCPS are not an aberration. Students with disabilities are sustaining serious injuries, both accidentally and intentionally inflicted, at schools across the country in large cities (and elsewhere). (20) A young Nashville student with spinal muscular atrophy died after school staff incorrectly performed CPR. (21) On a Chicago school bus, a student with disabilities was sexually assaulted by another student. (22) A Los Angeles student with a severe intellectual disability was sexually assaulted by her own aide. (23) Another Los Angeles school maintained a "hiding place" on its premises where a student with a disability was assaulted. (24) In Little Rock, one student sexually assaulted a student with an intellectual disability in the shower. (25) In New York City, students repeatedly bullied a student with a disability in the presence of his personal aide and a teacher. (26) Finally, and shockingly, a Philadelphia substitute teacher watched while some students dragged another student behind a partition in the classroom and raped her. (27) The substitute teacher told the students she did not care what they did. (28) The student victim could not escape because the school had locked the classroom door. (29)

This Article explores what urban (and other) schools can do to minimize injuries to students with disabilities and at the same time serve their own interests by minimizing liability. The Article begins in Part I.A with a brief review of the school's legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect students with disabilities from harm. Specifically, schools have an affirmative common law tort duty to reasonably supervise their students, including students with disabilities. (30) This duty is a broad one; it extends to all foreseeable risks. (31) For schools, this duty is informed and heightened by their knowledge and expertise about children, individual students, and disability generally. (32)

Part I.B of this Article examines foreseeable safety risks at school for students with disabilities, which are greater in both quality and quantity...