Microschools and Learning Pods & Issues Involving Legal Liability
If you are planning to start a microschool or learning pod during the COVID-19 pandemic, you will want to consider various legal concerns. Some of these relate to liability for exposure to COVID-19 during the operations of the entity, or more conventional injuries that may occur.
COVID-19 Exposure Liability
Since COVID-19 is a relatively new virus, courts have yet to determine whether a liability waiver for COVID-19 exposure is enforceable. You may include such a waiver in any contract that you make with a teacher or another hired individual, but whether it is enforceable in a court of law is a different question. The same applies for any agreements with parents or students. Children under 18, in most states, cannot legally enter into a contract. Some states have explicitly stated that COVID-19 waivers are unenforceable. If you feel strongly about including a liability waiver, you may want to consider hiring an attorney to help draft it.
Personal Injury and Other Liability Exposure
If your microschool or learning pod is meeting at your home, someone else's home, or a rotation of homes, you will need to consider whether your insurance would cover an injury to a child or someone else on your property. What if your dog bites someone? What if your hired instructor slips and falls in your home? What if you drive the children to a second location and get into a car accident? These events may or may not be covered under an existing policy and can be costly without insurance. You may want to talk to your insurance provider or an attorney to help sort through which kinds of injuries may or may not be covered by existing policies.
A parent or guardian with a child in the microschool or learning pod still risks liability even if they are not opening their own home to the children. In some states, parents continue to be liable for certain acts of their children. This means that if your child injures their teacher, a parent or guardian, or another student, that cost will come out of your own pocket if you do not have appropriate insurance coverage. Microschools and learning pods may want to require some kind of personal injury insurance coverage of all members if feasible.
If your microschool or learning pod will meet at a commercial space or a space rented for meetings, such as a separate apartment or storefront, you will need to not only consider additional insurance coverage but also agree on who will sign the lease and make rent payments. Remember that the person or people who sign a lease, and only those people, will be liable for any violation of the lease. This means that if you and only you sign the lease for your microschool or learning pod, you and only you will need to pay up when the rent comes due or property damage occurs.
