School district liability for events not occurring on the grounds of a school is constantly being litigated, in part because of California Education Code section 44808. That statute says that districts and district employees don’t have a responsibility for the safety of students when the student is not on school property except during transportation to or from school, in school sponsored activities off site, or if they have “otherwise specifically assumed such responsibility or liability or has failed to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances.”
Out of Bounds: California Education Code Section 44808 can be a legal protection for school districts when incidents happen off the site of a school.
This week, the California Court of Appeal had another crack at interpreting the limits of this language in a case called Victor Valley Union High School District v. Superior Court. Victor Valley concerns sexual assaults and sexual coercion that a teacher carried out against a student at the student’s home and in other non-school locations. The student argued that the district was liable for negligent supervision of the teacher, which led to the district’s assertion of the section 44808 immunity.
Victor Valley clarifies that, as interpreted by the California Supreme Court, the section 44808 immunity “depends upon the location of the alleged negligent act—not the location of the injury. [Citation.] If the alleged negligent act occurs on campus, then a school district does not have immunity under section 44808.” (Emphasis added.) The Court of Appeal interprets the plaintiff’s complaint as alleging that “the District’s negligent act occurred on campus, which proximately caused Student’s off-campus injury,” and thus that the section 44808 immunity does not shield the district.
Notably, Victor Valley distinguishes and disagrees with the interpretation of section 44808 in Vallejo City Unified School District v. Superior Court (2025) 118 Cal.App.5th 139, another case this blog has discussed. Victor Valley suggests that Vallejo followed a “flawed” interpretation of the statute.
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Related Post: School District Immunity Under Education Code Section 44808 for Events Not Occurring at School.