Opinion ID: 2633657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The School District's Negligence Created a Dangerous Condition for Sarah

Text: {10} According to the Uptons' claim, the School District operated Sarah's school in a manner that put both her and other similarly situated students at risk. The Uptons assert that Sarah's death was caused by the School District's negligence during two periods of time: (1) the events occurring prior to and leading up to the asthma attack, and (2) the events occurring after the attack began. Prior to the asthma attack, Sarah's parents disclosed her condition to the school, both verbally and in writing, and received assurances that their daughter's special needs would be met. Then, the school allegedly failed to advise the substitute teacher of these special needs which created a dangerous condition for Sarah. The substitute teacher then made Sarah perform strenuous exercise that was inappropriate and unreasonable under the circumstances despite Sarah informing the teacher of her distress. In turn, these negligent actions and omissions led to the asthma attack and Sarah's death. {11} In the second part of their claim, the Uptons challenge the School District's failure to respond to Sarah's attack. From the time Sarah's distress was first noticed, it took the school approximately fifteen minutes to call 911, adverse to the explicit instructions Sarah's parents had given the School District to contact emergency personnel immediately. To the contrary, a police officer at the school called 911 immediately upon seeing Sarah in the hallway. The school's limited response to Sarah's emergency was an attempt to give her an inhaler treatment, followed by a decision to place her into a wheelchair and push her out to the sidewalk. CPR was never administered even though, according to the allegations, it was clear from the onset of the attack that Sarah was not breathing well and was turning blue. Evidence indicates that Sarah may already have been dead when the ambulance arrived, suggesting that it should have been clear to school personnel that Sarah required immediate medical attention. {12} This is not the first time our courts have been faced with a tort claim under Section 41-4-6 of the TCA, caused by negligent failure of public employees to follow appropriate safety procedures at a public building or park. In one such case, Leithead, a young girl nearly drowned at a public swimming pool and likely suffered brain injury, when an inadequate number of capable lifeguards were on duty. 1997-NMCA-041, ¶¶ 12, 15, 123 N.M. 353, 940 P.2d 459. Noting that lifeguard services are essential to swimming pool safety, our Court of Appeals held that negligent implementation of safety protocols created a dangerous condition arising from the operation of the facility within the meaning of Section 41-4-6. Id. ¶¶ 3, 12-15 (relying on this Court's prior opinion in Seal v. Carlsbad Indep. Sch. Dist., 116 N.M. 101, 104-05, 860 P.2d 743, 746-47 (1993), which held that a school district could be sued for negligence in the operation or maintenance of a swimming pool for not ensuring that lifeguards were present and acting as such). {13} Similar to Leithead, the School District's alleged failure to follow procedures established for at-risk students appears to fall comfortably within the Section 41-4-6 waiver for operation or maintenance of a public building. Just as schools generally have safety procedures in place for various kinds of emergencies, a school simply cannot operate in a safe, reasonable, and prudent manner without affording, at the very least, the health and safety services that students have been promised, and upon which parents have relied. Safety procedures are particularly vital for those students known to have special needs and special risks. In this instance, the School District's failures to comply with such protocols and assurances created a dangerous condition, no different for Sarah than was the swimming pool for the plaintiff in Leithead. {14} The procedures in place for students with special needs like Sarah are akin to other measures that are important for the safe operation of any school building. For example, schools put in place fire plans to expedite a safe exit from the building. In the operation of the school, the threat of fire is treated in a specific manner, just as students with special health needs are treated in a specific way for their own safety. If a fire were to break out and school personnel were to fail to respond in a reasonable manner, then few would question that the school was negligent in the operation of the school building within the meaning of the TCA. Sarah's situation draws a close parallel. The School District failed to follow through on its safety policies for students with special needs and students in acute medical distress, an act of negligence in the operation of the school no less portentous to its students than a failure to implement appropriate fire exit procedure.