WEST PALM BEACH, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — The Palm Beach County School Board is facing a negligence lawsuit over injuries a minor student allegedly suffered during an aftercare activity at Hope-Centennial Elementary School in West Palm Beach, according to a civil complaint filed March 19 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
The case, S.H., a minor, by and through her mother, natural guardian and next of kin, Jennifer Phillips v. Palm Beach County School Board, Case No. 502026CA003180XXXAMB, was filed in the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County. The complaint names Fenstersheib Law Group, P.A. as counsel for the plaintiff.
No defense law firm is listed in the complaint. The filing alleges the School Board owned, maintained, managed, possessed, and controlled the premises at Hope-Centennial Elementary School, 5350 Stacey Street in West Palm Beach, where the incident allegedly happened.
According to the complaint, the child was a third-grade student at the school on April 12, 2024, and was attending the aftercare program when she was playing on an inflatable slide provided by the defendant. The lawsuit claims there was no permission slip, waiver, or consent form for the child’s mother to sign allowing her to participate in that activity. It further alleges that, had such a form been presented, the child’s mother would not have allowed her to take part.
The complaint says another student fell on the child’s right leg while she was on the slide, causing what the lawsuit describes as a serious injury. The plaintiff claims the School Board knew or should have known a waiver or similar form should have been presented before the child engaged in the activity. The filing further alleges the child sustained bodily injuries that are permanent and ongoing.
In its single count for negligence, the complaint alleges the School Board owed the student a non-delegable duty of reasonable care to maintain the school in a reasonably safe condition and to warn of defects or unreasonably dangerous conditions. The lawsuit claims that duty was breached by permitting dangerous inflatable slides on the premises, failing to inspect the school for unreasonably dangerous conditions, failing to maintain the school free of those conditions, failing to warn the plaintiff by sign, waiver, or otherwise, and failing to undertake reasonable efforts to repair or remedy the alleged danger.
The plaintiff alleges that, as a direct and proximate result of the School Board’s negligence, the child suffered injuries to her body and extremities, pain, physical handicap, disfigurement, mental pain and suffering, loss of income, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, and medical expenses. The complaint says those alleged injuries are permanent and continuing in nature.
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $50,000, plus costs, and demands a jury trial. As with all civil complaints, the allegations are claims made by the plaintiff and have not been proven in court.
The original complaint, S.H., a minor, by and through her mother, natural guardian and next of kin, Jennifer Phillips v. Palm Beach County School Board, Case No. 502026CA003180XXXAMB, as filed March 19, 2026, with the Palm Beach County Clerk of Court, can be viewed here.
Slip-and-fall and similar injury cases often involve questions about property safety and responsibility. Boca Post explains how premises liability lawsuits work in Palm Beach County courts. Boca Post reports regularly on civil filings in Palm Beach County courts. Readers can browse recent cases in our Boca Raton lawsuits coverage.
