When sexual abuse happens in a public school, you can sue the school for compensation for all damages incurred. This is because public schools have a strict legal, moral, and statutory duty to protect learners in their care from sexual abuse while in school. Schools have the responsibility to provide a safe environment and implement safeguarding policies to keep learners safe. They must also report any sign of abuse and act on reports of abuse that they receive from victims of sexual abuse. Failing to do so leads to legal liability, meaning that you can sue your school for negligence.

However, you must understand your legal options to use the proper process for the compensation you deserve. The help of a skilled criminal defense attorney is vital in this process. The attorney will ensure you understand your options and rights. They will also guide you through all legal processes and fight with you until you obtain a satisfactory result.

Suing a Public School for Sexual Abuse

Unfortunately, sexual abuse can happen in a public school, where a learner should be safe while pursuing their education. Some learning institutions unknowingly admit or hire predators, which is a great risk for learners in these institutions. However, it helps to know that public schools have policies in place against sexual abuse. Anyone admitted or hired into a public school is educated about these policies, including how to protect themselves, the consequences of perpetrating sexual abuse, and how to report it if you are a victim of sexual abuse.

If you are sexually abused in a public school, you can report it, according to the institution’s guidelines. If not enough is done to help your case, you can sue the school for negligence in protecting you against your abuser.

Public schools have a duty of care to protect learners from any form of abuse, including sexual abuse. The staff, including teachers, must take reasonable steps to protect learners from all forms of abuse and violence. Additionally, they must have preventive measures in place. There should be a child protection policy in every learning institution to guide learners, teachers, and staff on reporting channels in case of sexual abuse. Public schools should conduct screenings and train their staff on such policies.

However, when suing a learning institution for sexual harassment or abuse, the date when the assault happened matters a lot. If you were abused on and after September 2025, House Bill 4623 will apply. This is a new legal action that waives government immunity, so that victims of sexual abuse can hold learning institutions and school districts accountable for sexual abuse that happens within their learning institutions.

However, if sexual abuse happened before September 2025, you may not be able to sue your school district. Texas law protected public schools and districts through sovereign immunity against taking responsibility for negligence claims from sexual abuse victims. Since you cannot sue the school or district, you can file a claim against the perpetrator for compensation. You can also file a federal claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983 or Title IX if you have sufficient evidence to support your claims. A skilled criminal attorney can review your case and guide you through the process.

For years, public schools in Texas enjoyed sovereign immunity against lawsuits while learners suffered sexual abuse and harassment from predators in these institutions. HB 463 brought tremendous changes such that today, you can sue your institution for failing to protect you against sexual abuse while in a public school. This change is a major government immunity waiver for public schools in Texas since 1969. Thus, if you or someone you love is sexually abused in a public school, understand the various legal pathways so you can take a bold step towards justice.

Sovereign Immunity From Lawsuits Made Sexual Abuse Cases Difficult

Sexual abuse in public learning institutions in Texas is at a crisis level. Sexual misconduct reports against educators and other staff members, and solicitation involving learners, have increased significantly over the last years. Sovereign immunity by the government did not help much, because then, victims of sexual harassment would not take action against the schools that failed to protect learners.

Sovereign immunity in Texas legally prevents members of the public from filing a lawsuit against a government or government institution without the government’s consent. This immunity extended to public learning institutions, specifically school districts. It protected school districts from civil lawsuits by dissatisfied or aggrieved learners or members of the public, regardless of the defendants' negligence. While victims of abuse could sue their perpetrators, even if they worked in the protected learning institutions, school districts did not take any responsibility for failing to safeguard learners under their care.

The effect of this was devastating, primarily for sexual assault victims. A staff member could easily assault a learner sexually and get away with it, even after the school administration or district hears about it. Nothing was done against the alleged perpetrator, even though there were several sexual abuse reports against them by different victims. Schools ignored complaints and red flags when hiring staff, and failed to manage employees to ensure they adhered to laid-down policies, especially those regarding harassment and discrimination. Generally, school districts did not face any consequences for failing to protect learners as they should because of sovereign immunity.

The victims’ only options would be to report the perpetrator or to sue them individually. However, if the perpetrator lacks significant assets, recovering sufficient compensation from them, even after a successful lawsuit, is nearly impossible.

The sovereign immunity before September 2025 also extended to institutions’ employees and administrators. This was done through official immunity from liability, which made it impossible for victims of sexual abuse to sue them without their consent. The official immunity protected all government employees from individual liability for any discretionary act performed in the course of employment. All these protections resulted in a system in which public institutions did not face any accountability for failing to prevent sexual abuse, even if they were in a position to do it.

Today, there is great relief because, in addition to suing individuals for perpetrating sexual abuse, you can sue their employers, too, for failing to supervise them accordingly.

Your Legal Options for Sexual Abuse that Happened Before September 2025

Remember that sexual abuse and other discrimination and harassment issues have been rampant in public learning institutions for years. However, reporting options for victims of sexual abuse who want to pursue compensation for their damages are different today. Before September 25, when the government lifted the sovereign immunity against government employees, you could not sue an institution for sexual harassment even when the institution was wholly or partly liable for your damages. This left victims with limited opportunities to obtain compensation for their losses.

However, victims of sexual abuse could file a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and Title IX. You could also pursue damages through state intentional tort lawsuits to compel the perpetrator to compensate you for all your damages. However, learners in private learning institutions could also sue their schools since private institutions and their employees did not enjoy sovereign immunity.

Title IX Claims

The 1972 Education Amendments enacted a provision for Title IX claims. It prevents sexual discrimination in all federal education programs. Sex discrimination being a general term, judges and prosecutors have also included sexual abuse and harassment by school workers in the clause. Through a Title IX claim, you can hold a school or district liable for your damages. However, you must prove the following elements:

  • That you reported the sexual abuse, and an official of the school who has the mandate to deal with the matter is aware of the sexual abuse or your significant risk of sexual abuse. If the only information about the abuse is through rumors among employees, or a complaint you made to a teacher, and a supervisory authority does not have any official knowledge regarding it, you do not qualify to file a claim against the institution.
  • That after reporting the abuse to the school, its response was deficient, or the supervisory authority was deliberately indifferent to the report. In this case, you can prove to the court that the school’s response was evidently unreasonable, considering the prevailing circumstances of the matter.

Thus, if you reported the abuse, the report reached a person in charge at the learning institution, and the person has the authority to pursue the case but does not, you may be eligible to file a Title IX claim. However, it is helpful to consult with a skilled criminal defense attorney to ensure that you have a strong case before pursuing the matter in a civil court.

Claims Under 42 U.S.C. 1983

Again, if you were sexually abused in a public school before September 2025, and you would like to pursue compensation against your learning institution, you could file a claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983. This statute allows victims of sexual abuse to file a claim against state workers for the violation of their legal rights. In this case, you can allege your violation under the 14th Amendment Due Process Clause (bodily integrity protection).

If you wish to file a successful claim against a learning institution or school district under this statute, you must prove that the school has an official custom or policy which caused a violation of your constitutional rights. Examples of such policies include hiring policies, in which a school failed to conduct proper background checks or to adhere to the findings of those checks during the hiring process. You can also base your claim on the school’s deliberate inability to train or supervise its employees, or the school’s patterns of overlooking known dangers to its employees.

Additionally, you can sue the perpetrator under this statute. However, government workers often assert that they have qualified immunity that protects them from taking responsibility unless you can prove that their behavior violated a clear constitutional right. Although this qualified immunity does not always safeguard workers who perpetrate sexual abuse, it may protect administrators and supervisors even when they fail to prevent the abuse.

A major benefit of filing claims under § 1983 is that you could recover punitive damages on top of your compensatory damages. However, you must prove that the perpetrator acted with gross negligence or malice to qualify for punitive damages. If you do, you may recover more in punitive damages than you can recover from compensatory damages.

Note: You cannot recover punitive damages from school districts.

Filing Sexual Abuse Cases after September 2025

House Bill 4623, which lifted sovereign immunity for government institutions, was signed into law in June 2025. The law brought tremendous changes in how school sexual abuse cases were handled in Texas. It established a direct liability for school workers and public schools in sexual abuse cases.

This statute waives government immunity for public schools, allowing victims of sexual abuse to sue schools and school districts for their negligence in causing the victims’ damages. This means that if your sexual abuse happened after September 2025, you can sue your school directly, under this statute, for sexual abuse, negligence, failure to report, and failure to protect.

In this same law, professional school workers cannot claim official immunity if they are sued for abuse under Chapter 118. The previous protection administrators and supervisors enjoyed immunity for sexual misconduct that happened under their supervision, which is no longer available. A supervisor or administrator who fails to act against sexual abuse after receiving complaints in their workplace, and their negligence causes the misconduct to continue, is liable for the resulting damages.

Under Chapter 118, you can sue for the following misdeeds:

  • Sexual misconduct as under Texas PC § 21.12, is defined as any inappropriate relationship between a learner and an educator. Sexual misconduct under PC § 22.011 for any form of sexual assault, sexual misconduct under PC § 22.021 for aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault under PC § 21.02 for the continuous sexual harassment of a minor, and any other sex offense that may happen in a public school.
  • Failing to report sex offenses in learning institutions.

A mandatory reporting requirement governs school administrators and supervisors. According to Texas Family Law§ 261.101, professionals must report all suspected neglect and child abuse cases within 48 hours.

§118.002 Standard of Liability

Public schools are liable for gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct if they fail to take proper precautions when hiring professional workers, employing or supervising them. If professional workers engage in sexual misconduct or fail to report the abuse of a minor within the required time, the employer can be held responsible for the resulting damages.

Gross negligence is a higher standard for plaintiffs than deliberate indifference, which applies when government workers enjoy government immunity. Gross negligence technically means the risk is exceptionally high. It also means that the liable parties are aware of the high risk, but consciously disregard it through deliberate indifference.

Also, under HB 4623, the perpetrator of sexual abuse can become a defendant together with the district in a lawsuit. This means that both parties are jointly liable for your damages. After reviewing your case, the judge can hold the individual, the school, or both parties responsible for your damages, depending on their degree of liability in the matter. If the school has greater liability in the matter, the judge will order it to pay you full compensation for all your damages.

If your claim against the school prevails under Chapter 118, you could receive a maximum of $500,000 in damages. If there is more than one claimant in the case, each will be awarded a substantial amount in damages. Additionally, you can recover court costs, attorney fees, and other reasonable costs.

Remember that you cannot recover punitive damages under Chapter 118. The law limits damages to compensatory damages, fees, and costs.

You can file a claim under Chapter 118 after 30 years of sexual abuse. The extended statute of limitations gives survivors sufficient time to process and heal from the trauma before they gather the courage to come forward. A skilled attorney can also take you through the complex legal processes, so you have enough time to heal from the traumatic experience as you pursue the compensation you deserve.

Find a Competent Criminal Attorney Near Me

Have you, or someone you know, been a victim of sexual abuse in a public learning institution in Fort Worth?

You can pursue criminal charges and sue them for compensation in a civil court. However, you need legal help to understand your options better and navigate complex legal processes.

At Andrew Deegan Criminal Attorney at Law, we understand how important it is to take action after sexual abuse. However, your options when you choose to sue for damages will depend on when the sexual abuse happened. We can review your case to discuss your options and help you fight for compensation for all your damages. Call us at 817-689-7002 to discuss your needs and our services at length.