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A principals' group will seek legal advice on whether parents can sue if their child is harmed while in school care.
It comes as police have been asked to investigate if Hutt Valley High School in Wellington can be held accountable for allegations of possible neglect after a
run of major bullying problems - a situation some believe more schools could face.
Education Minister Chris Carter told the Herald he would have to seek an opinion on the legal issue but he was poised to address student safety concerns in an announcement next week aimed at stamping out bullying.
Mr Carter said it followed a "spate of fairly graphic incidents at schools" - including alleged sexual assaults of students in the boarding hostel at Wesley College near Pukekohe.
The initiatives will include online advice and practical programmes and likely boost the Education Review Office's scrutiny in their three-yearly audits of schools.
"I have been working for some months on trying to make schools safer places for kids," he said. "Some parents are upset schools have tried to deal with serious allegations in house, instead of going to police.
Post Primary Teachers Association secondary principals' council chairman Arthur Graves said it was becoming obvious legal liability was an area it needed to explore.
"Most schools won't have that in their faces," he said.
"Places where there have been incidents, yes, they will be acutely aware of these issues."
Secondary Principals' Association head Peter Gall said most schools had robust policies aimed at protecting students but they could not offer absolute guarantees of safety.
He said the potential of being sued was "a topic of discussion" among school leaders.
"We hear about it overseas, you hear about a couple of cases every now and then from Australia," said Mr Gall, Papatoetoe High School head. "I'm not saying that it won't [happen here] - it possibly will."
Secretary of Education Karen Sewell said schools were required to provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students but it was the responsibility of boards of trustees to govern schools and set policies.
Ms Sewell said the ministry was not aware of any cases of schools being sued for not keeping schools safe.
"Boards of trustees are open to law suits but cases against school boards are rare in New Zealand," she said.
If boards were not complying with legal obligations a scale of "interventions" - ranging from appointing a specialist adviser to help to replacing entire boards with a commissioner - were normally used.
The Schools Trustees Association could not be reached for comment.
