Was Adequate Supervision Provided Under the Circumstances?
Karen Acosta, as mother and natural guardian of her infant child, sued the Yonkers Public Schools to recover damages for personal injuries her child allegedly sustained when, as a first-grade student, the infant child fell from a slide at a school playground during recess. The complaint asserted a cause of action alleging negligent supervision. Yonkers moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, contending that it provided adequate supervision of the infant and, in any event, that any alleged negligence on its part was not a proximate cause of the child’s injuries. Supreme Court denied the motion. Yonkers appealed..
Schools are under a duty to adequately supervise the students in their charge and they will be held liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related to the absence of adequate supervision. Schools are not insurers of safety, however, for they cannot reasonably be expected to continuously supervise and control all movements and activities of students.
Here, Yonkers established its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the complaint by demonstrating that the level of supervision it provided, which consisted of at least two school monitors for a group of approximately 30 children, was adequate. And, in any event, any alleged negligence on its part was not a proximate cause of the infant child’s injuries. In opposition, Acosta failed to raise a triable issue of fact. Accordingly, Supreme Court should have granted Yonker’s motion for summary judgment dismissing Acosta’s complaint.