Liability Related to School Board Action
Our current school board is stating its current decision regarding adopting the Mask Mandate of the Secretary of Health order is based on its fear of liability and fines. Their solicitor is either failing to provide them adequate counsel or providing them legalistic cover to enact a mandate and state they "have to." I am attaching two links which cover in depth the immunity the school board possesses regarding adopting and following its policies. As long as a school board member enstablishes a policy and adheres to that policy, a member has never been held liable for it in a Pennsylvania Court under 42 Pa. C.S. § 8546.
The Dept. of Health is attempting to hold some school boards as engaging in "willfull misconduct" but this has been legally established to cover criminal behavior only.
The school board is granted broad immunity regarding liability under 42 Pa. C.S. § 8542 as a whole. In order to be held liable, it must 1. Engaging in a proveably negligent manner AND 2. It must be in reference to one of 9 very specifically defined things. Exposure to an illness is not one. They are specifically:
(1)Vehicle liability. (2)Care, custody or control of personal property.
(3)Real property. (4)Trees, traffic controls and street lighting.
(5)Utility service facilities. (6)Streets.
(7)Sidewalks. (8)Care, custody or control of animals.
(9) Sexual abuse.
As an added bonus, I will include a law firm's in depth analysis of Liability for Municipalities