Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
When Tiffany Williams’ autistic six-year-old son, Dante, did not return home from school one Wednesday afternoon, she called up the Carter and MacRae Elementary School, where Dante attended, to find out where he was. A bus driver, who was not the driver of Dante’s bus, brought the child home unharmed. That driver told Ms. Williams that Dante had been found, sound asleep, on the bus he was taking home from school that evening. Dante’s driver apparently failed to make the required check of the bus seats at the end of the route, and did not realize that he had not brought Dante home.
Kickball is a popular elementary and sometimes middle school game that has been around for years. Typically, the game is played without incident or injury. Unfortunately, children are injured playing kickball and other schoolyard games. A school district can be held liable or responsible for the injuries if the game is not safely organized or if there is improper or inadequate supervision that leads to injury. It is the responsibility of the physical education coach, teacher, and or aide to make sure that playing fields are safe, free from hazards like above ground sprinklers, exposed rocks or fences, holes in the ground, or a grossly uneven playing surface. If a child suffers an injury as a result of negligence, a child can then pursue a case or claim against the school district. Of course, the laws of each State differ. Furthermore, each school district has its own rules and regulations that should be reviewed to determine compliance with the same.
A four year old boy, Jonathan Vasquez, was killed in a hit and run accident in front of his school recently. The child was riding a scooter to preschool, with his grandmother and older brother walking behind him, when he was hit while crossing the street that leads out of the school parking lot. The driver of the car fled the scene, dragging the boy’s body behind him for a short distance. Because the accident occurred just after the first morning bell, there were few witnesses and the police do not have a good description of the car or the driver, who has only been described as a man with a dark complexion.
In Maryland and other States, schools should be a safe haven for children. Schools should be a place where children are able to learn and grow in an environment that protects their safety and well being. Unfortunately, at times, schools are crime scenes where children are assaulted, beaten, and robbed. In Cambridge, Maryland, 
A special needs teacher at a South Carolina Elementary School, Rosemary Mills, has been arrested and charged with unlawful conduct toward a child. She was reportedly witnessed by a parent of one of the other children, screaming and grabbing the child by the back of the neck and forcing the child down into a chair. She then allegedly told the boy to get up and put his book bag away, and then shoved him once he stood up. The parent reported the incident to the school, and Mills was placed on administrative leave. Nancy Britt, director of human resources for the school district, filed a police report sometime later.
In Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, three middle school children recently suffered injuries as a result of a woman who served to attempt avoid crashing into a traffic jam. The students attended Beverly Hills Middle School. Action News ABC reported that Jemel Brunswick and Tyler Lowery were injured in this automobile / pedestrian incident. The third boy, named Beyene, was reported by his father (Beyene Beyene) to be in a coma at a local hospital. The driver carelessly drove across three lanes of traffic, then hit the boys, and then kept on moving until hitting the third boy 15 yards away. According to police, the driver finally slammed into a parked car and then finally came to a stop. See 
Three young children were hit by a car in California recently, when a truck stopped to let them cross the road and the impatient driver behind him tried to go around rather than stopping. The children were not seriously injured, but parents are upset because there are traffic signals installed at the intersection – and they have been disconnected for about two years. The parents believe that traffic signals would have prevented the accident. The intersection is near both an elementary and a middle school and is used heavily before and after school. According to police records, of the ten people hit by cars in the city this year, five were children.
When Julie Powell picked up her children, Carter (18 months) and Konnor (3), from the Toddler Escape Drop-In Child Care in Billings, Montana, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until she received a call from Billings police later that night that she found out what had happened to Carter earlier that day. A passing motorist on busy Central Avenue had spotted the child wandering around in the street and returned him to the daycare center.