May I access the school disciplinary record of another student who assaulted my child?

Full question:

My son, who is a high functioning Autistic 10th grade boy, was in an incident at school where another student asked him to 'High-Five' him. After the 'high five' the other boy said, 'Didn't you feel anything?' My son then noticed that he had blood running out of his hand; the other boy had concealed a tack between his fingers, puncturing my son. The incident was taken over by the school principal, who was very apologetic, but stated that they had taken all the steps and that the boy was punished. This is after my wife left her job to take my son to the doctors for a tetanous shot. I asked what the punishment was that was given to the other boy, but the principal would only state that he was punished. Because of confidentiality rights I could not know to what extent the punishment was. Is this true? What are some of the other legal avenues I could take? This has me very upset.

• Category: Schools
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Pennsylvania

Answer:

Unfortunately, disciplinary action taken by a school against a particular student is not public information.

However, if you believe your child was the victim of school violence that could or should have been prevented by school officials, you may be able to establish a claim against the school district. If your child is injured at a school and the accident was the result of inadequate supervision or negligent security or is someone else’s fault, you may have a right to make an accident compensation claim. We know how much trauma a family goes through when a child is injured at a school that was supposed to be a place of safety. Serious injury to a child at school deserves maximum monetary damages and the responsible person or institution must be held accountable.

This may be particulary true in the event of violence targeted at a special needs student, whom the school is aware may require increased supervision.

A duty may be established by law, by duly promulgated school rules or procedures, by express direction from superiors or by duties of professional responsibility, including duties prescribed by Chapter 235 (relating to Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators). 22 Pa. Code
§237.8. Certainly an educator stands as a fiduciary to his students and owes them the
duty to protect them from conditions that are harmful. 22 Pa. Code §235.4.

A local litigation attorney would be able to help you evaluate any claim for negligence that you may have against the school district. It may be possible in the context of litigation to compel the disclosure of what steps the school took to deal with the incident.