Week+4+5344

Discussion:

__How do you go about investigating this student's claim? __ I would first have the student go to the nurse to make sure he was okay. Then, I would contact the parents of the assaulted student to make sure they were informed of what was happening. Then, I would have the student write an incident report detailing the incident and the other students involved, including any other possible witnesses. I would then call the other three students down individually and immediately to get their individual statements about the incident. I would also look up any video evidence there may be available. I would then call down the teacher who walked in on the incident to determine what he saw and to inquire about why he left. 

__If it turns out that there was an assault, can you or the school be held liable? __ Probably not, unless there was a pattern among the assaulted student and the others or if he had reported an ongoing conflict and no one did anything about it. Otherwise, as long as the school is not "deliberately indifferent" to the claims and acts in good faith during the investigation, they will not be held liable.

__What about the teacher who left the restroom? __ This will depend on why the teacher left the restroom. If the teacher left to get help, knowing he could get injured by breaking up the fight, then probably not. If the teacher acted in "good faith", then there is no issue. However, if the teacher intentionally did not help the student, he could be held liable. There would need to be proof of that, though.

Assignment: