The following papers and the attachments and exhibits thereto have been read on this motion:

Notice of Motion1

Memorandum of Law2

Affirmation in Opposition3

Reply Affirmation4

During lunch time recess on April 7, 2008, second-grader Plaintiff Bernardo Benavides ("Benavides") was pushed down a slide by an unidentified student in the playground at the Northern Parkway School ("School"), which is located within the Defendant Uniondale Union Free School District ("District"). The unidentified student then slid down the slide and landed on top of Benavides causing injury to Benavides' left leg and lower back.

On July 1, 2009, Plaintiffs commenced the instant action against the District. The District answered the complaint; having completed discovery, the District now moves for summary judgment pursuant to CPLR 3212 on the grounds that the accident was a "sudden and spontaneous event that could not have been prevented no matter what the level of supervision was", that supervision was adequate in any event, and the accident was "in no way caused by any [*2]act or omission by the District" (Affirmation in Support at ¶¶ 21-23).

Schools have a duty to supervise the students in their charge and will be held liable for those injuries which are proximately caused by the failure to provide adequate supervision (Mirand v City of New York, 84 NY2d 44, 49 [1994]). Schools, however, are not the insurers of safety because they cannot reasonably be expected to continuously supervise and control all movements and activities of students (Id. at 49). "In determining whether the duty to provide adequate supervision has been breached in the context of injuries caused by the acts of fellow students, it must be established that school authorities had sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous conduct which caused the injury; that is, that the third-party acts could reasonably have been anticipated" (Id. at 49). Moreover, "[w]here an accident occurs in so short a span of time that even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it, any lack of supervision is not the proximate cause of the injury and summary judgment in favor of the School defendants is warranted" (Convey v City of Rye School Dist., 271 AD2d 154, 160 [2d Dept 2000];

In Swan v Town of Brookhaven (32 AD3d 1012 [2d Dept 2006]), the Second Department dismissed a complaint brought against a school district alleging, inter alia, negligent supervision of a playground, stating as follows:

Eleven-year-old Christopher Swan was injured when he fell from a school playground slide during recess. The record indicates that, as Christopher attempted to get off the side of the slide, about midway down from the top, his foot got caught under another student and he fell to the ground. The plaintiffs alleged that the injuries sustained by Christopher were the result of inadequate ground cover on the playground surface beneath the slide and negligent supervision by school personnel. * * * Christopher's act of going over the side of the slide after getting his foot stuck was a sudden and unforseen event which no amount of supervision could have prevented. Therefore, even assuming the appellants breached their duty to supervise, this breach was not the proximate cause of the accident. * * *

At bar, there is no evidence that the District had knowledge, or could have anticipated, that the unidentified student would push Benavides down the slide and then slide on top of him. Thus, irrespective of whether school aides were present on the playground at the time of the accident,^[FN1]the unidentified student's act of pushing Benavides down the slide and then sliding on top of him was a sudden and unforseen event which no amount of supervision would have prevented (e.g., Mata v Huntington Union Free School Dist., 57 AD3d 738 [2d Dept 2008] [Fall from third rung of monkey bars happened so quickly it could not have been prevented even with greater supervision]; Conte v Minnesauke Elementary School, 56 AD3d 511 [2d Dept 2008] [*3][Plaintiff's jump from slide in school playground was not proximate cause of accident]; Reardon v Carle Place Union Free School Dist., 27 AD3d 635 [2d Dept 2006] [School District entitled to summary judgment where student was injured after jumping off swing in midair]).

Based on the foregoing, it is hereby ordered that the Defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint is granted.

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.

Dated: June 14, 2011

_____________________________

Hon. Vito M. DeStefano, J.S.C.

.