If a school employee fails to exercise
the duty of care expected of reasonable prudent persons in the same or
similar situations, that person is said to be negligent; and, if such
negligence is the direct and proximate cause of injuries sustained by pupils
to whom such employee owes a duty of care, such employee is personally
responsible in damages.
Consequently, a teacher assigned
playground duty is to be there. A teacher assigned a class of
students is to be there! If a substitute is acquired, that substitute's
name must be added to the roster. If the substitute does not appear as the
legal substitute for the original party, should accidents occur, the
original party could suffer legal consequences because the teacher appointed
an incompetent person to assume the teacher's rightful duties.
Substitutions should not be made by word of mouth; they should be written
down and approved by the principal.
Responsibility rests with the teacher
when the student is sent by the teacher and is absent from supervision, e.g.
errands to the office or other locations on campus, errands off campus.
