BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The family of a Hammock Pointe Elementary School student has filed a lawsuit against the School Board of Palm Beach County, claiming a physical education teacher forced the girl to run laps despite a doctor’s orders that she stay off her recently broken ankle. According to the complaint, filed Friday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, Jasmine A. Clark was still recovering from a broken left tibia when her PE teacher required her to run or speed-walk laps on August 12, 2024. The lawsuit says Clark told the teacher she was unwilling and unable to do the exercise because of her medical restrictions, but was made to participate anyway.
The suit, filed by Clark’s mother and natural guardian, Jenelle Avilla, alleges Clark stepped in a pothole in the outdoor field area during the exercise and refractured her left ankle. Attorneys for the family argue the School Board knew or should have known about the girl’s medical restrictions and about the condition of the field where the injury happened. The complaint lists a series of alleged failures, including claims the district did not properly construct or maintain the outdoor field, did not warn of hidden hazards, did not adequately supervise students during physical activity, and did not accommodate Clark’s medically prescribed restrictions.
The complaint obtained by BocaNewsNow.com says Clark suffered significant bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the reinjury, and that some of those losses are expected to continue. Before filing suit, the family’s attorney, Larry D. Parks, sent a series of notice letters over the past several months to the School Board, Palm Beach County’s risk management office, the Florida Department of Financial Services and Hammock Pointe Elementary itself, putting each on notice of the claim and requesting insurance policy information, as required under Florida’s notice-of-claim law for suits against government entities.
The complaint, published below, seeks damages in excess of $50,000 and demands a jury trial. Clark is represented by attorney Larry D. Parks of the Law Offices of Larry D. Parks, Esq., in Miami. The School Board of Palm Beach County had not filed a response as of the lawsuit’s filing.
