Joanne Mondragon, as parent and guardian of J.W., a minor v. the Board of Education of the Colonial School District

Summary

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court's summary judgment for the Board of Education of the Colonial School District on immunity grounds under the Delaware State Tort Claims Act (DSTCA). The claim arose from an assault on J.W., a five-year-old nonverbal autistic student, by another student aboard a special-needs school bus while the sole bus aide attended to a different child. The court held that the District's hiring and placement of the aide, and the manner and method of student supervision, were discretionary acts rather than ministerial ones, and that the record—viewed most favorably to the plaintiff—would not permit a reasonable jury to find the gross or wanton negligence required to defeat immunity.