B.C.'s highest court has dismissed an appeal from the Surrey school district, in a case in which a 12-year-old boy fell off a school roof and suffered significant injuries.
The district was appealing a B.C. Supreme Court judgment from earlier this year. The Supreme Court found the school failed to take action to prevent children from accessing the roof via a nearby cherry tree. The judge said the school board was 75 per cent liable for the incident, and the boy 25 per cent.
On appeal, the district argued the trial judge erred by holding it to an incorrect standard – namely, perfection. The Court of Appeal rejected that argument.
"It is not clear to me that the trial judge misapprehended any evidence as suggested by the appellant. Nor does it appear to me that she imposed a standard of perfection," Justice Peter Willcock wrote. The two other members of the three-judge panel agreed.
Owen Paquette was a seventh-grade student at Peace Arch Elementary at the time of the fall. He and a friend climbed onto the roof after school, on March 4, 2008.
The school's former vice-principal heard running on the roof and yelled at whoever was up there to get down.
The boys tried to quickly climb down a different section of the roof without getting caught, but Owen slipped and fell more than six metres onto a cement surface at the bottom of a stairwell. He was taken to hospital and remained there for more than two weeks.
The school's former principal said there were numerous instances in which he believed people had been on the roof, though at least part of the time they appeared to be older teens.
The school board told the Supreme Court there was no way it could have anticipated the boys would use the cherry tree to access the roof, though the trial judge disagreed. She noted the former principal had said a tree near the roof would tempt kids to climb. The judge added that it was "unreasonable" to allow the tree to grow so close to the school, and for the problem to persist.
The appeal court said the school board was aware of a risk and had taken some steps to reduce it, such as erecting a barrier at a different section of the roof.
The court said it saw no reason to disturb the trial judge's finding of fault, or the breakdown of liability.
"… It was open to the trial judge to find that the defendant, an institution charged with the care of children and obliged to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of its premises, ought to have brought a greater degree of thought and care to the risk posed by children getting onto the roof than did the children doing the climbing," said the appeal court ruling.
The appeal court judgment was handed down in mid-November, and posted to the court website Monday.
Ryan Parsons, one of two lawyers representing Owen and his mother, in an interview said the Court of Appeal's decision was of great relief to his clients.
He said Owen has had a number of operations since the fall, and suffered fractures to his legs and vertebrae.
Mr. Parsons said while the liability has been apportioned, the exact monetary breakdown has not. He said further hearings will be held to determine just how much the school board will pay out.
Doug Strachan, a Surrey Schools spokesman, wrote in an e-mail that the district regrets the boy was hurt. He said the tree was removed shortly after the incident.