When you send your child to school, you expect that they are going to be attending classes in a safe and hazard-free environment. And while Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) works to ensure students are safe and never placed in harm’s way, still, accidents seem to happen. If you weren’t aware, APS is the largest school district in the state of NM so as you can imagine, there is a lot of ground to cover in terms of checking school campuses for anything that might be potentially hazardous.

Unfortunately, as hard as employees work to keep students, teachers, staff, and parents safe when they are on school grounds or even while riding the bus to and from home, several accidents occurred in 2017 leaving some students permanently disfigured. In fact, KRQE reported that APS paid out more than $337,000 in personal injury settlements in that year alone to students and others who sustained injuries on and off school property.

The news outlet stated that one lawsuit that was filed involved a student who had been attending Del Norte High School. According to the suit, Addie Raymer went to sit down next to a friend on a concrete bench to have lunch. When she went to sit down, the bench started to fall and when she attempted to lift it back up, she realized it was too heavy. The concrete bench ended up falling on her hands, but she managed to pull them out. Her mother said that the injuries were so bad that she wasn’t sure that her daughter would be able to keep her fingers.

But, after spending nearly 10 hours in the hospital following the incident and undergoing several surgeries, one of her hands was left permanently disfigured. The source indicated that Raymer lost part of her fingertips on her left hand and even stopped dancing ballet after doing it for 13 years. Raymer said that she would sometimes experience pain in her hands while dancing and because “a big part of ballet is having elegant hands,” she felt hers did not meet that standard. Although APS did finally agree to settle with the family, the amount awarded was not disclosed to the public.

In another settlement agreement, APS paid out $99,000 in 2017 for an accident that occurred over three years ago involving a student from Volcano Vista High School. Apparently, the student was jumping hurdles in P.E. class and, because of where they were placed, he landed in wet grass, which caused him to slip and break his leg. Another family received $35,000 after their child fell back onto weights and broke his wrist while doing box jumps in P.E. class. That student attended Eldorado High School at the time of the accident.

Can I file a lawsuit if my child sustains an injury at their school in Albuquerque?

The answer is yes, but you will want to be sure that you have the grounds to sue before actually following through with the process. How can you do this? The best way to learn whether you have a valid personal injury claim on your hands is to first have Albuquerque, NM personal injury attorney Brian K. Branch, PC review the details of your child’s accident or even yours in the event you sustained an injury on school property. If our firm determines that you and/or your child are entitled to compensation, we will help you take the appropriate action to recover it.

Now, to get an initial consultation scheduled where we can sit down and discuss the unfortunate incident that left your child injured.

To speak with a lawyer in Albuquerque, call us at: 505-207-4401