An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 13 - Student Applications And Enrollment Contracts

Munn v. Hotchkiss School 2024 A 15 year-old student attended a school trip to China where she was infected with an insect-borne disease and left permanently disabled. The student and her parents brought a negligence action against her boarding school, asserting that the school failed to adequately warn students of the risks of insect-borne disease and failed to ensure that students took adequate precautions against insect-borne disease before and during the trip. The court held that the school could not introduce into evidence the field trip waiver and release of liability form signed by the student and her mother because it lacked an unambiguous waiver of negligence of liability. The court also excluded the release form as void as a matter of public policy because the school was required to meet certain education standards, did not invite or permit negotiation, controlled the student’s exposure to the risks posed, and placed the student under the control of the trip leader while in China. A jury found in favor of the student and awarded the student $41.5 million in damages, which included $31.5 million in non-economic damages. In 2015, the school appealed the jury’s award, arguing that it did not have a legal duty to protect students from an insect-borne disease and that the award was excessive. The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed the award and found the school had a duty to warn and protect against the risk of the insect-borne disease here. 2025 Schools have a special duty to protect students under their care. The court concluded it was reasonable to impose a duty on the school in this case. The information about the insect-borne disease was easily accessible and even though the risk was slight, it would have been very simple to include the warning in the information given to parents. It would also have been a very simple precaution to use bug spray or require long pants in the rural area of the trip. The Court also found that while extremely generous, under the circumstances, the award was not excessive or outside the bounds of reasonableness. The student was permanently disabled from the illness. She will need care for the rest of her life, particularly after her parents are no longer around to support and tend to her.

Munn v. Hotchkiss carries several important lessons. First, the duty to warn is essential and waiver and release forms must have thorough and accurate lists of the specific risks of any trip or activity. It is not enough to give generic information that could apply in any location. Schools must do the research and convey the appropriate information so parents can make knowing waivers of liability. Second, schools must check that any links to external sources are accurate. Here, the CDC link went to Central America instead of China. A simple error such as this one can

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