We, as parents, trust the schools and teachers to take reasonable steps to ensure our children’s safety while they are entrusted in the school’s care. Schools are required to provide a safeguard for the children under their supervision. Our Tampa Playground Injury Attorneys have represented families / parents who have had a child injured while under the school’s care and supervision.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 200,000 children age 14 years or younger present to emergency rooms each year for injuries. More than 75% of those injuries are a direct result of an injury that took place on a playground or in a schoolyard. Even more staggering is the fact that 45% of all playground injuries are considered severe as they involve fractures, dislocations, internal injuries, concussions, brain injuries and amputations.
The most common injuries that occur on our schoolyards or playground involve the following:
-insufficient supervision by school officials or teachers
-unsafe condition of playground equipment
-defective playground equipment
-failing to timely or adequately repair / replace broken equipment
-improper school crossings
-bullying / assaults
It is important to point out that most schoolyard and playground injuries are limited by Florida sovereign immunity, most notably Section 768.28, Florida Statutes. If the particular school or playground is governed by the sovereign immunity law, the damages are limited to $200,000.00. There are, however, extremely narrow exceptions to the general limits set forth in the sovereign immunity statute.
Trusting your child’s injury case to a personal injury attorney can be a very personal and difficult challenge. To fully evaluate whether your child’s injury may have been the fault of the school please contact us, your Tampa Personal Injury Attorneys.