Your Child Was Hurt at School: What to Do Next

You got a call from the school. Or maybe your child came home and told you something happened. Either way, your child is hurt and you’re trying to figure out what to do first. This guide walks you through it step by step.

The most important thing right now is making sure your child gets medical care. Everything else comes second. But once that’s handled, there are specific steps you need to take to protect your family. Arizona has deadlines that most parents don’t know about, and missing them can cost you your right to hold the school accountable.

Step 1: Get Medical Attention

Take your child to their pediatrician or an urgent care facility. If the injury is serious, go to the emergency room.

Don’t rely on the school nurse’s assessment. School nurses do important work, but they’re not emergency physicians. They can’t order imaging, run labs, or diagnose concussions with the same tools a doctor has. Some injuries don’t show symptoms right away. A child who seemed fine at school might develop headaches, neck pain, or behavioral changes over the next few days.

Tell the doctor exactly what happened. “My child was in a school bus crash” or “My child fell on the playground and hit their head.” The doctor needs to connect the injury to the event. That connection matters later.

Keep every medical record. Every visit, every prescription, every referral. Start a folder. You’re going to need it.

Step 2: Document Everything

Start right now. Today. Write down everything your child tells you about what happened. Use their words. Don’t edit or rephrase. A child’s first account of an event is the most reliable.

Take photos of any visible injuries. Bruises, scrapes, swelling. Take photos on day one, day three, and day seven. Bruises darken over time, and the progression tells a story.

Write down the following details.

• The date and time of the incident
• Where it happened (the bus, the playground, a classroom, a hallway)
• Who was present (teachers, aides, other students)
• What the school told you when they called
• The name and contact information of anyone who provided first aid
• Your child’s symptoms, day by day

Keep a running log. Date every entry. This documentation becomes evidence if you pursue a claim.

Step 3: Notify the School in Writing

You probably already talked to someone at the school on the phone. That’s fine, but it’s not enough. Send a written notification. Email works. A letter sent certified mail is better.

The written notice should be simple. State that your child was injured, the date it happened, and that you’re requesting a copy of the incident report. Ask for the names of all school employees who were present or who responded.

Why writing? Because phone calls aren’t documented by the school in a way that protects you. Emails and letters create a paper trail. If the school later claims they weren’t aware of the severity, or that you didn’t report it, you have proof.

Save a copy of everything you send.

Step 4: Request the Incident Report

Every school district in Arizona is required to document safety incidents. When a child is injured at school or on a school bus, the staff on scene should fill out an incident report. It goes by different names in different districts: injury report, accident report, incident form.

Request a copy. In writing. The school isn’t required to hand it over automatically, but parents have the right to records about their own child. If the school pushes back, reference FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), which gives parents access to their child’s education records.

Read the incident report carefully. Compare it to what your child told you. Discrepancies matter. If the school’s report says your child “tripped and fell” but your child says they were pushed by another student, that’s a significant difference.

Don’t accept the first version as complete. Schools sometimes fill out incident reports days after the event, and details get softened or omitted. Your documentation from Step 2 is your check against the school’s version.

Step 5: Understand the 180-Day Deadline

This is the step that catches most families. Arizona treats school districts as public entities. That means you can’t simply file a lawsuit the way you would against a private business. You have to file what’s called a notice of claim first.

Under ARS 12-821.01, you have 180 days from the date of your child’s injury to serve a written notice of claim on the school district’s governing board. Not the principal. Not the superintendent. The governing board.

180 days sounds like a lot of time. It’s not. Here’s why.

The notice has to include specific facts about what happened, a specific dollar amount for which you’d settle the claim, and your identity as the person filing on behalf of your child. Putting that together takes time. Medical records need to be gathered. The full scope of your child’s injuries needs to be assessed. An attorney needs to draft the notice to meet the statutory requirements.

If you miss the 180-day deadline, your claim is gone. Arizona courts don’t grant extensions. They don’t make exceptions for good faith delays or for the fact that your child is a minor. The clock starts ticking on the date of the injury, regardless of your child’s age.

Step 6: Don’t Sign Anything

After an incident, the school district might ask you to sign forms. Some of these are routine: acknowledgment that you were notified, consent for the nurse to treat, that sort of thing.

But sometimes a district or its insurance carrier will present documents that look routine but contain language that could limit your rights. A release of liability. A statement that the incident was minor. An agreement to accept a specific medical payment in exchange for waiving further claims.

Don’t sign anything without having an attorney review it first. This includes settlement offers, releases, and any document the school district’s insurance company puts in front of you. Insurance adjusters work for the district, not for your family. Their job is to close the claim for as little money as possible.

If the school says they need a signed form before they can share information with you, ask for a copy to review at home. Take it to your attorney. If it’s a routine form, that’ll be obvious. If it’s not, you’ll be glad you waited.

Step 7: Call Us

You’ve documented the injury. You’ve notified the school. You’ve requested the incident report. You’ve avoided signing anything that could hurt your case. Now it’s time to talk to an attorney who handles school district injury claims in Arizona.

Here’s what we’ll do from there.

Review the incident

We’ll go through everything you’ve documented, compare it with the school’s records, and identify where the district may have been negligent.

Investigate the school’s safety record

We’ll pull public records on the school and the district. Prior incidents, safety complaints, bus maintenance records, staffing levels. Patterns matter.

Handle the notice of claim

We’ll prepare and file the notice of claim with the school district’s governing board within the 180-day deadline. The notice will include the specific facts and the specific dollar amount the statute requires.

Manage communication with the district

Once you have an attorney, all communication goes through us. You don’t have to respond to the district’s insurance adjuster, their attorney, or anyone else. That’s our job.

Pursue your child’s claim

If the district denies the claim or doesn’t respond, we’ll file a lawsuit within the one-year statute of limitations. We’ll handle discovery, depositions, expert witnesses, and trial preparation.

We don’t charge consultation fees. We don’t charge anything upfront. We work on contingency, which means we get paid when your family gets paid. Not before.

Timeline Checklist

Here’s your complete timeline at a glance. Print this. Put it on your fridge.

What We’ll Investigate

When a family comes to us after a child is injured at school, we don’t just look at the single incident. We look at the system.

Was the supervision adequate?

Arizona schools owe a duty of reasonable supervision to students. On a playground, that means enough adults watching, with clear sight lines. On a bus, that means a driver following route protocols and a district that trains drivers properly.

Did the district know about the risk?

If there were prior incidents at the same location, involving the same equipment, or on the same bus route, the district may have known about the danger and failed to address it. Prior complaints and incident reports are public records.

Were safety protocols followed?

School districts have written policies for bus operations, playground supervision, emergency response, and incident reporting. We’ll get copies of those policies and compare them to what actually happened on the day your child was hurt.

Is there a pattern?

One incident is a case. Multiple incidents point to a systemic failure. A bus driver with three prior complaints who causes a crash tells a different story than a first-time incident on an otherwise clean record.

What are the long-term impacts?

Children’s injuries can affect their development, their education, and their emotional well-being for years. A concussion at age seven can change a child’s academic trajectory. A traumatic event on a school bus can create lasting anxiety about transportation. We work with medical experts who understand pediatric injuries and their long-term consequences.

What Not to Do

Some things feel natural in the moment but can hurt your case.

Don’t post about the incident on social media

Insurance adjusters monitor social media. A post about your child’s injury, your frustration with the school, or your child’s recovery can be taken out of context and used against you.

Don’t give a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster

The school district’s insurer may call and ask for a recorded statement. Politely decline. You’re not required to provide one, and anything you say can be used to minimize or deny the claim.

Don’t accept a quick settlement without legal advice

If the district’s insurance company offers to pay your child’s medical bills in exchange for a release, don’t accept without consulting an attorney. The offer is almost certainly less than what the claim is worth, especially if your child has ongoing medical needs.

Don’t assume it wasn’t a big deal

Children heal fast. Sometimes. But some injuries are worse than they appear. A “minor” playground fall can cause a fracture that wasn’t visible on the initial exam. A “small” bus fender-bender can cause whiplash that manifests weeks later. Take every incident seriously.

We’re Here When You’re Ready

Dealing with your child’s injury is stressful enough. Figuring out the legal side shouldn’t make it worse. Our team handles school district injury cases across the West Valley, including Buckeye, Goodyear, Avondale, and the broader Maricopa County area.

Call us at (602) 654-0202. The consultation is free. There’s no obligation. We’ll tell you whether you have a case, what it’s worth, and what the next steps look like.

The 180-day clock is running. Let’s make sure it doesn’t run out.