Can a school be held liable for injuries sustained by a student as a result of an accident on the way home?

In Calandri v. Ione Unified School District (1963) 219 Cal.App.2d 542, 33 Cal.Rptr. 333, a student was injured in his home by a toy cannon he had built as a school project during his shop period. It was alleged that the failure of the teacher during the school period to warn the student of the dangers involved in loading the cannon was a proximate cause of the injury which occurred later off the school premises. The appellate court held that issues relating to defendant's negligence and proximate cause were questions of fact for the jury.

The school district in Hoyem and the school district here rely heavily on Kerwin v. City of San Mateo, supra. In that case, the appellate court held that a school district was under no duty to supervise or provide for the protection of its pupils on their way home. In Kerwin, however, the complaint alleged that school officials merely sent a sick six-year-old boy home with his eleven-year-old brother during school hours. The court noted that [143 Cal.App.3d 296] nothing was alleged to indicate a lack of ordinary care by the school district in sending the boys home in this manner. Therefore, the school was held not to be liable for injuries sustained by the boys in an accident on the way home.