PFire23
04-19-2003, 12:05 PM
I don't blame the parents in this article. If this is the case, and this is to be the "new" waiver for field trips, I don't think my children will be attending either. Like the one mother in the article, it's not about "suing" it's about whether or not my children will be properly supervised.
Parents recoil at waivers
Jody Paterson
Times Colonist
Friday, April 18, 2003
ADVERTISEMENT
Daryl Stubbs was looking forward to his class trip last week to the Crag X indoor climbing wall. But when the 13-year-old's parents refused to sign the new waiver form he brought home, the Saanich student was told by his teacher that he'd have to sit the field trip out.
He had company. The parents of three of his classmates also refused to sign the waiver, a two-page dandy set to become the standard release form for all B.C. schools.
It wasn't so much the nine paragraphs that had to be initialled individually that got the McKenzie elementary parents worried, or even the requirement that two witnesses sign underneath the parents' signatures. Maybe they even could have lived with the fourth paragraph, which notes that "an adult will not necessarily supervise children at all times."
But what ultimately stopped them cold was the waiver's opening salvo, a lengthy list of all the people who can't be sued no matter what goes wrong on any "high risk" field trip.
"In consideration of School District No. 61 offering my child an opportunity to participate in field trips for students during the 2002/2003 school year," the form begins, "I waive any and all claims I may have against, and release from all liability and agree not to sue the Board of Trustees of School District No. 61 and its officers, employees, agents, volunteers and representatives, and the Ministry of Education for any personal injury, death, property damage or loss sustained as a result of my child's participation in the field trips arising out of any cause whatsoever, including negligence."
Parent Barb Stubbs says she was stunned to see negligence included.
"When my child is at school, I feel that the school is responsible and that I can trust them to watch out for my child," she says. "This form now makes me wonder if they will."
The waiver was drafted last summer by the provincial government's risk management branch. School districts have been told to start using it, and to prohibit students from going on field trips if their parents refuse to sign.
"What we're trying to do is put knowledge in parents' minds about what could happen when their kids are away," said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The schools have been doing this for years. We've just upgraded the wording."
McKenzie principal Dennis Arnsdorf acknowledged that some parents are upset by the form, but declined further comment. In an April 4 letter to parents, he apologized twice for having to ask them to sign it.
The government official questioned why parents would happily sign Crag X's own waiver form and then balk at signing one from the school. Stubbs says she's not opposed to signing a company's waiver, but she sees a big difference between absolving the operator of "a crazy ride at the PNE" from blame versus the school she entrusts with her son five days a week.
Local lawyers are divided on whether signed waivers are sufficient to strip families of their right to sue, particularly for negligence.
Lawyer Sheldon Seigel told the TC earlier this year that "if parents sign them, they're stuck with them," and advised striking off any negligence clauses before signing. Lawyer Chris Bing says courts have allowed negligence lawsuits in the past regardless of whether there was a signed waiver.
"Each case is dependent on its own facts," says Bing. "These forms are used mostly to try to discourage people from launching lawsuits."
Lawsuits are a growing problem for school districts across the country, and field trips are usually the cause.
An Alberta mother was awarded $3 million in 1993 after her son was left permanently comatose from a fall while on a field trip to Vernon. Another Alberta mother launched a $5.1-million negligence suit last year over the drowning death of her 13-year-old while on a field trip.
The government official says the province's public trustee can sue on behalf of a child regardless of whether parents sign away that right in a waiver form, but says that the forms should at least cut down on nuisance lawsuits launched by parents complaining about "having to lose time at work" or something equally petty.
Stubbs says she could care less about her right to sue. She just wants to know that someone will be watching out for her son.
"Does this mean that somebody driving my child around on a field trip doesn't have to take any responsibility?" she asks. "I just don't know how to take this."
jpaterson@tc.canwest.com
© Copyright 2003 Times Colonist (Victoria)
Parents recoil at waivers
Jody Paterson
Times Colonist
Friday, April 18, 2003
ADVERTISEMENT
Daryl Stubbs was looking forward to his class trip last week to the Crag X indoor climbing wall. But when the 13-year-old's parents refused to sign the new waiver form he brought home, the Saanich student was told by his teacher that he'd have to sit the field trip out.
He had company. The parents of three of his classmates also refused to sign the waiver, a two-page dandy set to become the standard release form for all B.C. schools.
It wasn't so much the nine paragraphs that had to be initialled individually that got the McKenzie elementary parents worried, or even the requirement that two witnesses sign underneath the parents' signatures. Maybe they even could have lived with the fourth paragraph, which notes that "an adult will not necessarily supervise children at all times."
But what ultimately stopped them cold was the waiver's opening salvo, a lengthy list of all the people who can't be sued no matter what goes wrong on any "high risk" field trip.
"In consideration of School District No. 61 offering my child an opportunity to participate in field trips for students during the 2002/2003 school year," the form begins, "I waive any and all claims I may have against, and release from all liability and agree not to sue the Board of Trustees of School District No. 61 and its officers, employees, agents, volunteers and representatives, and the Ministry of Education for any personal injury, death, property damage or loss sustained as a result of my child's participation in the field trips arising out of any cause whatsoever, including negligence."
Parent Barb Stubbs says she was stunned to see negligence included.
"When my child is at school, I feel that the school is responsible and that I can trust them to watch out for my child," she says. "This form now makes me wonder if they will."
The waiver was drafted last summer by the provincial government's risk management branch. School districts have been told to start using it, and to prohibit students from going on field trips if their parents refuse to sign.
"What we're trying to do is put knowledge in parents' minds about what could happen when their kids are away," said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The schools have been doing this for years. We've just upgraded the wording."
McKenzie principal Dennis Arnsdorf acknowledged that some parents are upset by the form, but declined further comment. In an April 4 letter to parents, he apologized twice for having to ask them to sign it.
The government official questioned why parents would happily sign Crag X's own waiver form and then balk at signing one from the school. Stubbs says she's not opposed to signing a company's waiver, but she sees a big difference between absolving the operator of "a crazy ride at the PNE" from blame versus the school she entrusts with her son five days a week.
Local lawyers are divided on whether signed waivers are sufficient to strip families of their right to sue, particularly for negligence.
Lawyer Sheldon Seigel told the TC earlier this year that "if parents sign them, they're stuck with them," and advised striking off any negligence clauses before signing. Lawyer Chris Bing says courts have allowed negligence lawsuits in the past regardless of whether there was a signed waiver.
"Each case is dependent on its own facts," says Bing. "These forms are used mostly to try to discourage people from launching lawsuits."
Lawsuits are a growing problem for school districts across the country, and field trips are usually the cause.
An Alberta mother was awarded $3 million in 1993 after her son was left permanently comatose from a fall while on a field trip to Vernon. Another Alberta mother launched a $5.1-million negligence suit last year over the drowning death of her 13-year-old while on a field trip.
The government official says the province's public trustee can sue on behalf of a child regardless of whether parents sign away that right in a waiver form, but says that the forms should at least cut down on nuisance lawsuits launched by parents complaining about "having to lose time at work" or something equally petty.
Stubbs says she could care less about her right to sue. She just wants to know that someone will be watching out for her son.
"Does this mean that somebody driving my child around on a field trip doesn't have to take any responsibility?" she asks. "I just don't know how to take this."
jpaterson@tc.canwest.com
© Copyright 2003 Times Colonist (Victoria)