Legal Options for Arkansas Students Harmed by Bullying or Negligence

School should be a safe place where your child can learn, grow, and feel protected. Unfortunately, for many families in Arkansas, bullying, harassment, or a school’s failure to act creates an environment that is anything but safe. When a school ignores warning signs or fails to follow the law, the harm to your child can be serious: physically, emotionally, and academically.

If you are a parent dealing with this painful situation, you are not alone. An experienced Arkansas child injury claims lawyer can guide you through your options and help you fight back. At Gates Law, PLLC, we work with families across Arkansas to hold schools accountable and protect children’s rights. To learn more or speak with an attorney who understands these cases, call (501) 779‑8091 today.

Arkansas’s Anti‑Bullying Law

When you are worried about your child being bullied at school, it is important to know that you are not just relying on the school’s goodwill. Arkansas state law sets clear rules that every public school must follow. This law does not just suggest how schools should handle bullying. It tells them exactly what they are legally required to do. Knowing these rules helps you see when a school has not just let your child down emotionally, but may also have failed them legally.

Your Child’s Right to a Safe Education

Arkansas law could not be clearer: your child has the right to get an education in an environment that is safe from bullying, intimidation, or threats. Arkansas Code § 6‑18‑514 says it plainly: every student deserves a school environment that is “reasonably free from substantial intimidation, harassment, or harm or threat of harm by another student.”

That is not just a nice idea. It is a legal right. When a school lets bullying go unchecked, it is not only failing to protect your child’s wellbeing, it is ignoring this right altogether.

What Counts as “Bullying” Under the Law

To hold a school accountable, you need to understand what the law considers bullying. Arkansas defines bullying as any intentional harassment, intimidation, humiliation, ridicule, defamation, or threat of violence by a student toward another student or even a school employee.

It can happen in many ways:

• Written Bullying: threatening notes, nasty drawings, or printed materials meant to hurt or scare someone.
• Verbal Bullying: name calling, taunting, sexual comments, or direct threats.
• Physical Bullying: hitting, kicking, spitting, tripping, or damaging someone’s property.
• Social Bullying: spreading rumors, purposely leaving someone out, or embarrassing them on purpose.

One important note: if the person doing the bullying is a teacher or school employee, that is a different kind of claim, but it is still something an attorney can help you with.

Understanding “Cyberbullying”

Bullying does not stop at the school door. Arkansas law also protects your child from bullying that happens online. Cyberbullying includes hurtful or threatening messages, sharing private information to embarrass someone, or even creating a cruel social media page.

Here is something many parents do not realize: the school’s responsibility does not end when your child leaves campus. If online bullying spills over into the school day and disrupts your child’s learning, the school has to address it even if it started off school property.

What Schools Are Required to Do

Arkansas law does not just say schools should act. It spells out exactly what they have to do when bullying is reported. When a school gets a credible report, they must:

• Tell you promptly: They have to notify you if they believe your child has been a victim.
• Write it down: The principal or their designee must make a written report of the incident.
• Investigate quickly: The investigation must be completed within five school days after the written report is made.
• Update you: Within five days of finishing the investigation, they must tell you the outcome.
• Tell the bully’s parents: They must also notify the other student’s parents.
• Make staff report: Any teacher or staff member who sees or hears about bullying must report it.
• Take action: Once confirmed, the school must act. This could mean discipline, counseling, or other steps to stop the bullying.

These are not optional steps. They are legal obligations. If a school ignores a report, misses the deadlines, or sweeps things under the rug, it is not just bad practice. It is breaking the law. And that is critical if you are considering taking legal action to protect your child.

Arkansas Child Injury Claims Lawyer Joseph Gates

Proving a Negligence Claim Against an Arkansas School

If your child has been hurt, physically or emotionally, because a school failed to act on bullying, you may have the right to seek financial compensation through a personal injury claim. But there is a challenge you need to know about. In Arkansas, public schools are usually protected by something called sovereign immunity. Understanding how to work around this protection is the key to holding a school district accountable when it has been negligent.

Connecting Bullying to Negligence

To succeed in a negligence claim, you have to show four things:

• Duty: The school district had a legal duty to protect your child.
• Breach: The school broke that duty by what it did or by what it failed to do.
• Causation: That breach directly caused your child’s injuries.
• Damages: Your child actually suffered harm, whether physical, emotional, or even financial.

Arkansas’s Anti‑Bullying Law (Ark. Code § 6‑18‑514) spells out exactly what schools are supposed to do when bullying happens. If a school knows your child is being bullied or should have known and still ignores the required steps to investigate and stop it, that school has breached its duty of care.

When your child ends up hurt because the school sat back and did nothing, the law can view that inaction as a direct cause of those injuries. One big question often comes up: Was it foreseeable? In other words, if the school knew your child was being harassed and did nothing, could they reasonably expect that harm would eventually follow? If the answer is yes, that strengthens your case.

Sovereign Immunity in Arkansas

Here is where things get tricky. Public schools in Arkansas are generally protected by sovereign immunity. That means they cannot usually be sued for negligence. Arkansas law (Ark. Code § 21‑9‑301) says school districts “shall be immune from liability and from suit for damages” for torts, which include negligence.

Many parents feel frustrated or even hopeless when they learn that their child’s school seems legally untouchable. But do not give up, here is the part of the law that matters most for you. That same statute goes on to say that a school district is immune except to the extent that it is covered by liability insurance.

It means if the school district has liability insurance, their immunity stops at the limits of that policy. In plain terms, you are not fighting the school’s budget. You are making a claim against its insurance company.

Arkansas courts have confirmed this again and again. For example, in Helena‑West Helena School District v. Rose Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court said a school district can be sued as far as it has insurance coverage.

Figuring out exactly how this works, finding out what insurance the district has, making sure your lawsuit is filed correctly, and countering any arguments the insurance company tries to use is not something you should have to handle alone. An experienced Arkansas child injury claims lawyer can guide you every step of the way so you can focus on what matters most: protecting your child and getting the support they deserve.

An Evidentiary Checklist for Parents

If you are thinking about taking legal action, it is not enough to simply explain how much your child has suffered. A strong claim is built on clear evidence. One of the most powerful things you can do right now is become a careful, organized record keeper. Documenting what is happening can help you turn your story from a painful experience into a solid legal case that can stand up in court.

Evidence of the Bullying Itself

This is where you show exactly what happened.

• Digital Communications: Save every screenshot of harassing text messages, social media posts, threatening emails, or even cruel websites. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat can delete content quickly, so capture it right away before it disappears.
• Written Evidence: Hold on to any notes, drawings, or letters that show threats or insults.
• Witness Information: Make a list of anyone who saw or heard the bullying, including students, teachers, or other parents. Write down their names and, if you can, their contact information. Their accounts can back up your child’s story.
• Your Child’s Journal: If your child is able, encourage them to keep a private, dated journal. They should write down every incident: what happened, who was involved, when and where it happened, and who else might have been there. A journal like this can be incredibly powerful evidence.

Evidence of the Harm to Your Child

Next, you need to show the impact the bullying has had on your child.

• Medical Records: Keep copies of any medical visits related to injuries. Take clear, dated photos of bruises, cuts, or other injuries.
• Therapy and Counseling Records: If your child is in therapy or seeing a counselor, those records show the emotional toll. Diagnoses like anxiety, depression, or PTSD are strong evidence of harm.
• Academic Records: Collect report cards, test scores, and attendance records from before and after the bullying started. A drop in grades or increased absences can show how the bullying affected your child’s education.
• Parental Observation Log: Keep your own running log of changes you notice. Write down when you see things like trouble sleeping, nightmares, loss of appetite, pulling away from friends, or fear of going to school. These details help tell the story of what your child is going through.

Evidence of the School’s Negligence

Finally, you need to show that the school failed to take action when it should have.

• The Paper Trail: Save every email, letter, and form you send to the school. Keep copies of everything you submit to teachers, the principal, the superintendent, or the school board.
• Meeting Documentation: After every phone call or meeting, send a follow up email summarizing what was discussed. Include the date and time, who you spoke with, and what the school said it would do. This creates a written record the school cannot deny later.
• Official School Documents: Ask the school, in writing, for a copy of its anti bullying policy and for the written report from any investigation they conducted. The policy shows what they were supposed to do, and the report shows what they actually did or did not do.

Category	Examples of Evidence	Purpose
Evidence of the Bullying	– Screenshots of texts/social media – Threatening notes/drawings – Witness names – Child’s journal	To prove specific incidents of bullying occurred and establish a pattern of behavior
Evidence of Harm	– Medical records & photos – Therapy/counseling notes – Academic decline – Parental observations	To demonstrate the physical, emotional, and educational impact on the child
Evidence of Negligence	– Emails/forms sent to school – Notes from meetings with staff – School policy & investigation reports	To show the school was informed and failed to take appropriate action as required

Using Federal Law (Title IX) to Fight Back

Arkansas law gives you a strong foundation to hold a school accountable for negligence. But in some serious cases, bullying may also cross into a violation of federal civil rights law. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is another legal tool you can use, especially when the bullying is tied to sex or gender. Understanding this additional path can give you more ways to seek justice and push for change.

What Is Title IX?

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in any school or educational program that receives federal funding. Many people think of Title IX only in terms of equal opportunities in sports, but it covers much more. It also protects students from severe, ongoing, and clearly offensive harassment based on sex that creates a hostile learning environment.

When Does Bullying Become Title IX Harassment?

Not every bullying situation qualifies under Title IX. The bullying has to be on the basis of sex. This can include:

• Sexual Harassment: This is any unwanted sexual behavior. For example, another student spreading sexual rumors about your child, pressuring them for sexual favors, or sharing explicit photos or messages without consent.
• Gender Based Harassment: This happens when a student is bullied for not fitting traditional gender roles. For example, a boy being called names like “gay” or “fairy” because he enjoys dance, or a girl being mocked as “butch” because she has short hair and dresses in a more masculine style.

The School’s Heightened Responsibility Under Title IX

Once a school knows, or reasonably should know, that a student is facing severe and ongoing sex‑based harassment, Title IX requires the school to act. The school must take prompt and effective steps to stop the harassment, prevent it from happening again, and help fix the harm already done. If a school chooses to do very little or nothing at all, that is called deliberate indifference and the school can be held legally responsible for the harm your child suffers.

Your Legal Options Under Title IX

If your child’s situation falls under Title IX, you have two main paths you can take, and you can pursue them at the same time as a state negligence claim:

• File a Complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR): You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The OCR can investigate the school district’s policies and how it handled your child’s case. This can lead to agreements that require the school to make big changes like training staff, improving reporting systems, and adding more support for students.
• File a Private Lawsuit in Federal Court: Along with an OCR complaint, you can file a lawsuit in federal court to seek monetary damages for the harm your child has suffered.

Taking both steps can be a powerful strategy. A state negligence case focuses on helping your child recover by getting financial compensation. A federal OCR complaint can push the school to make broad changes that protect your child and other students in the future. Working with an experienced attorney can help you navigate both paths so you can pursue justice for your family and help create lasting change in your school district.

Taking the Next Step to Protect Your Child

No parent should have to watch their child suffer because a school failed to do its job. Understanding Arkansas law and federal protections like Title IX gives you the power to stand up for your child’s rights. With the right evidence and the right legal guidance, you can hold schools accountable and push for real change.

If your family is facing the aftermath of bullying or negligence, you do not have to face it alone. Reach out to Gates Law, PLLC to speak with a dedicated Arkansas child injury claims lawyer who will listen to your story and help you understand your options. Call (501) 779‑8091 today to start taking steps toward justice and a safer future for your child.