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Tracy Llewelynv.Jason Bryant As Natural Parent Of Zackery M.G. Bryant Et Al.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A18A1913
DecidedMarch 7, 2019
Reporter311 Ga. App. 467
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CivilTort LawNegligenceOfficial ImmunitySummary JudgmentReversal
Case Summary

Six-year-old Zackery Bryant was struck and killed by a school bus after getting off at his elementary school. His parents sued assistant principal Tracy Llewelyn, alleging that negligent supervision contributed to his death. Llewelyn sought summary judgment under official immunity, but the trial court denied the motion. The Court of Appeals reversed. The court held that the assistant principal’s decisions about greeting students, monitoring the bus area, and supervising student movement involved discretionary functions rather than ministerial duties. The transportation handbook’s directions that staff supervise and receive children as they left buses were too general to require a specific act in a definite way. Georgia law treats student supervision as discretionary even when school policies may have been violated. Because the negligence claim arose from discretionary conduct protected by official immunity, Llewelyn was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The court therefore reversed the denial of summary judgment and ended the individual claim against the school official.

Opinion

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