Reece v. Turner

In Reece v. Turner, 284 Ga. App. 282, 283 (643 SE2d 814) (2007), a teacher molested a female student and was placed on probation by the school. The school did not report the incident to child protective services as required by state statute, but instead prepared an internal memorandum placing "certain requirements and restrictions" upon the teacher as a condition of continued employment. Id., 284 Ga. App. at 284. These restrictions included: "An instructor must [always] be supervising any activity where students are present. You are never to be alone with a student; the presence of an instructor will be required." Id. The teacher violated these restrictions and molested another student. The Court held that violations of the internal memorandum did not involve ministerial acts on the part of the principal and department director, reasoning that, although framed in those terms, the crux of Turner's complaint against the appellants is that they negligently failed to supervise Turner as a student and Spaur as an employee in a manner sufficient to protect Turner from molestation. As such, this case is controlled by our precedent holding that the making of decisions regarding the supervision of students and school personnel is a discretionary function requiring personal deliberation and judgment. Reece v. Turner, supra, 284 Ga. App. at 285 (1).