116 Ky. 850 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1903
Opinion op the court by
Apphsmino.
'West Covington is a city of the fifth class, with the power to acquire and hold real estate. It owned a two-story building situated witbin its corporate limits. The plaintiff’s cause of action may be best stated by quoting from the petition as follows: “That said defendant permits said building to be used as a public school, which is attended by many children, residents of said city; said building is situated on said described ground fronting on Main street, and is about five or sis feet back from the eastern boundary of said lot; that said above-described realty is about four or five feet above the grade of-Main street and the sidewalk abutting said property; that the defendant had, long previous to the times herein mentioned, erected and constructed a stone wall on the eastern line of ,said property and adjoining the said sidewalk; that said wall was and is about four or five feet high, and the top of said stone wall was and is on a level with the said above-described property; the space between the building and said stone wall is paved with brick, and the school children all used this space as a passage to the back yard and a.
The State regards it as her duty to establish and maintain a system of public education. When sums have been collected for that purpose they can not be diverted to any other use or purposes. If it could be done, the system would be injured and the public suffer incalculable injury. If some one is injured by the faulty construction of a public school building or the maintenance of the grounds, no action can be maintained against the district for such injury. The law provides no funds to meet such claims.
In Shearman & Redfield on Negligence, section 267, it is said: “The duty of providing means of education, at the public expense, by 'building and maintaining schoolhouses, employing teachers, etc., is purely public duty, in the discharge of which the local body, as the State’s representatives, is exempt from corporate liability for the faulty construction or want of repair of its school building or the torts of its servants employed therein.”
In Hill v. City of Boston, 122 Mass., 344, 23 Am. Rep., 332, the court held that there could be no recovery, and stated the facts as follows: “This was an action of tort against the city of Boston. Plaintiff, who sued by his
The same court in Sullivan v. City of Boston, 126 Mass., 542, said: “As we have said before, the place where the injury happened was in the sehoolhouse yard or lot, and, even if the city allowed this to be defective and dangerous, it is not liable therefor.”
The same doctrine is recognized in Lane v. The District Township of Woodbury, 25 Iowa, 462, 12 N. W., 478; Howard v. Worcester, 153 Mass., 426, 27 N. E., 11, 12 L. R. A., 160, 25 Am. St. Rep., 651; Ford v. Kendal, &c., 121 Pa., 543, 15 Atl., 812, 1 L. R. A., 607.
In Wixon v. Newport, 13 R. I., 554, 43 Am. Rep., 35, the court said: “This is an action brought against the city of Newport by the plaintiff, a minor, suing by her next friend, to recover damages which she suffered by being scalded and burned in one of the public schools of the city,
Counsel for appellant concedes the law to be as stated, but claims that the city was not required by law to furnish the building for common school purposes; that the city had nothing to do with the maintaining of the public school; that it occupies the same position with reference to the. house and lot as if the building had been used for other purposes. Although the city was not compelled to furnish the school trustees with the building for public school purpose's, still it did so, and made that contribution to the public to aid in the promotion of education. The use of the building accomplished the same purpose as it would have accomplished had it been owned by the common school district. The building was not owned by the city for private or municipal uses, but for a public purpose. We are of the opinion that the doctrine of the cases cited should apply to the facts of this case.
The judgment is affirmed.