Liability: parents, parent organizations, and school boards.

• Author: Doctor, Eleanor
• Position: FEATURE on law and schools

Inquiries from school administrators and others suggest that parent volunteers are becoming increasingly concerned about the prospect of legal action arising from their voluntary work with parent/school councils and other parent and teacher organizations. In one situation, the parent council was being harassed by a parent who failed to get elected to the council. Neither the president of the council nor the principal could resolve the matter to the satisfaction of the parent, and so they turned to senior administration which requested a letter stating the nature of the problems the parent was causing. The parent found out about this letter and applied to the privacy commissioner for a copy of the letter, presumably so that she could pursue a defamation action against the president. The president needed legal representation to prevent the parent from accessing this information and for any potential defamation action. Fortunately, this school board provided the president with legal counsel of her choice. Would a parent in your jurisdiction get this protection?

It would appear that liability may arise within three different contexts.

1. When acting within the framework of parent/school council legislation

   As a general rule parent/school councils are not legal entities, though we understand that some have incorporated as charitable societies. That means that they cannot sue or be sued, though individual members of these councils can sue or be sued. However, also as a general rule, this legislation does not provide parents with the power to make decisions or do anything that is likely to invite negligence and liability. Rather it merely provides parents with limited rights to advise school administration and/or school boards, to participate or provide input into or otherwise be involved in various budgetary or educational processes, and to receive certain types of information, support and a budget for basic operating expenses. In any event, legislation in most jurisdictions protects parents from lawsuits arising from the performance of their roles, at a minimum, within the limited framework of school council legislation. Once a parent steps out of this framework there is greater potential for liability.

2. When acting beyond the scope of school/parent council legislation on school-sponsored activities

   To our knowledge, litigation involving parent liability within this context has never been reported in Canada. School legislation may protect...