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PRESENT: Goodwyn, C.J., Kelsey, McCullough, Chafin, Russell, and Mann, JJ., and Millette,
S.J.
NEWPORT NEWS SCHOOL BOARD
OPINION BY
v. Record No. 240833 JUSTICE STEPHEN R. McCULLOUGH
May 8, 2025
Z.M., A MINOR BY AND THROUGH
HIS NEXT FRIEND MATHEW HARVEY
UPON A PETITION UNDER CODE §§ 8.01-626 AND 8.01-670.2
The Newport News School Board appeals from a decision denying its plea of sovereign
immunity. At issue is whether Code § 22.1-194 waives the Commonwealth’s sovereign
immunity for degrading acts that school staff are alleged to have perpetrated on an autistic child
– acts alleged to have happened on a school bus, but which do not implicate the operation of the
bus as a means of transportation. We conclude that Code § 22.1-194, which waives sovereign
immunity when “a vehicle [is] involved in an accident,” does not waive sovereign immunity on
such alleged facts. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand the
case for further proceedings.
BACKGROUND
Z.M. is a non-verbal autistic child. He attends the Center for Autism at Kiln Creek
Elementary School, which is part of Newport News Public Schools. He filed an action through
his father as next friend alleging that, while Z.M. was being transported on a school bus on the
way home, employees of the Newport News Public Schools struck him in the face, apparently
with Z.M.’s wet sock, twice told him that they wished they could “whip his tail” and, after Z.M.
had removed his pants and diaper, allowed him to leave the bus without any clothes on the lower
part of his body. The complaint also alleged that school employees insulted Z.M. the previous Jump to an indexed page (6 of 6)