Colocho v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist.
The fundamental issue in this case is whether a public school district may be held liable for injuries suffered by a second grade student who was hit by a vehicle while walking home after school was dismissed. In the context of a motion for summary judgment, the trial court answered this question, no. The ensuing appeal presents two subcomponent issues for our consideration. The first issue involves a pure question of law: Do administrators at public elementary schools have a duty not to allow students to walk home after school is dismissed except in the company of an adult? The second issue is whether there is any evidence in the record to show that the administrators at Maurice Sendak Elementary School (Sendak) in North Hollywood assumed such a duty, or, in the language of the summary judgment statute, does the record disclose any triable issues of fact which need adjudging to determine whether Sendak assumed a duty not to allow its students to walk themselves home at the end of a school day? Our answer to both questions is, no, and, in the absence of the threshold element of duty, we affirm the summary judgment in favor of defendant Los Angeles Unified School District (District).
Comments on Colocho v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist.