Richardson by McDaniel v. Hambright, 22926

• Decision Date: 05 October 1988
• Docket Number: No. 22926,22926
• Citation: 296 S.C. 504,374 S.E.2d 296
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: , 50 Ed. Law Rep. 898 Terry Michael RICHARDSON, minor, by his guardian ad litem, Celeste McDANIEL, Appellant, v. Wanda S. HAMBRIGHT; James C. Spears, Jr., as Administrator of the estate of Robert Craig Fitch, deceased; Michael Bruce Fitch Individually and, Cherokee County School District # 1, Defendants. Appeal of CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT # 1. . Heard

Page 296

374 S.E.2d 296

296 S.C. 504, 50 Ed. Law Rep. 898

Terry Michael RICHARDSON, minor, by his guardian ad litem Celeste McDANIEL, Appellant, v. Wanda S. HAMBRIGHT; James C. Spears, Jr., as Administrator of the estate of Robert Craig Fitch, deceased Michael Bruce Fitch Individually and Cherokee County School District # 1, Defendants Appeal of CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT # 1.

No. 22926.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard Oct. 5, 1988.

Decided Nov. 28, 1988.

Ricky K. Harris and M. Terry Haselden, Faucette, Haselden, and Harris, P.A., Spartanburg, for appellant.

Kenneth L. Childs and David T. Duff, Childs, Duff and Hardin, P.A., Columbia, for respondent.

HARWELL, Justice:

This appeal involves an action brought by Appellant, a student, for injuries sustained while riding as a passenger in a private vehicle between Blacksburg High School and the area vocational center. Both Blacksburg High School and the vocational center are part of Cherokee County School District # 1 (District). Appellant sued the School District alleging negligence in the enforcement of its "Driving/Riding" Policy. The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the trial judge properly ruled that the District was not grossly negligent as required for liability under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, S.C.Code Ann. § 15-78-10, et seq. (Cum.Supp.1987), thereby entitling the District to summary judgment. We affirm the trial court.

FACTS

This case centers around a District "Driving/Riding" policy requiring parental permission for students choosing to ride to the area vocational center in private vehicles instead of riding the bus provided by the District. Appellant and two other students were passengers in a pick-up truck driven by a fourth student. None of the four students had the required parental permission to travel in a private vehicle. While en route to the vocational center, the pick-up truck crashed into a large commercial vehicle. The driver and two other passengers were killed and appellant was seriously injured.

The policy provided that students who had parental permission would be issued special identification cards to carry. The policy provided that frequent car checks would occur and that "any member of the school administration, faculty, staff or law enforcement personnel" could conduct a check. Random checks were to be made at the vocational center once or twice a week. "All-school" checks were to be conducted once or twice a month. These checks were to take place at the vocational center. Routine checks were not planned at Blacksburg High unless a specific problem was reported. Such checks at Blacksburg were deemed unnecessary by the District because the vocational students generally traveled to the center straight from their homes without first reporting to the high school. Appellant's injuries, however, occurred during the first week of school at a time when all students were required to report to "Homeroom" at their home campus before traveling to the vocational center. During this week, the High School took steps to make students and parents aware of the policy. The policy set forth the rules for enforcement and included a statement to the effect that riding the bus was the safer course of conduct. Appellant signed a sheet indicating that he had

                read the Student handbook which included this policy.   Both appellant and his mother admitted knowledge of the policy.   Appellant

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