BURKE, Chief Justice.
[¶ 1] Appellant, Jacob Fugle, brought suit against Appellees, Sublette County School District # 9 and his teacher, Stephen Nelson, for injuries he sustained during a science demonstration conducted in the school gymnasium. Appellees sought summary judgment claiming immunity under the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-101 et seq.). The district court granted the motion, and Mr. Fugle challenges that decision in this appeal. We affirm.
[¶ 2] Mr. Fugle presents the following two issues:
[¶ 3] In November 2010, Mr. Fugle was a student at Big Piney High School in Big Piney, Wyoming. As part of a science class, his teacher, Stephen Nelson, conducted a demonstration of centripetal force in the high school gymnasium using a wheeled cart and a 20-foot rope. In the demonstration, Mr. Nelson stood in the center of the gym and held on to one end of the rope while a student, sitting in the cart, held on to the other end. The students took turns sitting in the cart and pushing on the cart to initiate motion. During Mr. Fugle's turn, he was unable to hang onto the rope due to the forces acting upon him, and when he let go of the rope, the cart travelled across the gym floor and into a door frame. Mr. Fugle experienced extensive injuries, including a dislocated hip and a fractured femur, as a result of the collision.
[¶ 4] Mr. Fugle filed suit against the School District and Mr. Nelson. Following discovery, Appellees moved for summary judgment under the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act. The district court granted Appellees' motion after concluding that Mr. Fugle's injury did not fall within the exceptions to governmental immunity for negligence in the "operation and maintenance" of any building, or in the "operation and maintenance" of any recreation area. Mr. Fugle appealed.
[¶ 5] We apply the following standard of review to a district court's summary judgment decision:
Singer v. Lajaunie, 2014 WY 159, ¶ 19, 339 P.3d 277, 283 (Wyo.2014) (quoting Jacobs Ranch Coal Co. v. Thunder Basin Coal Co., LLC, 2008 WY 101, ¶ 8, 191 P.3d 125, 128-29 (Wyo.2008)). We consider the record from a viewpoint most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment, giving to him all favorable inferences that can be drawn reasonably from the facts set forth in the affidavits, depositions, and other material properly appearing in the record. Singer, ¶ 19, 339 P.3d at 283.
[¶ 6] The Wyoming Governmental Claims Act "provides broad governmental immunity from tort liability." Sinclair v. City of Gillette, 2012 WY 19, ¶ 10, 270 P.3d 644, 646 (Wyo.2012) (quoting Krenning v. Heart Mt. Irrigation Dist., 2009 WY 11, ¶ 21, 200 P.3d 774, 781 (Wyo.2009)). Certain enumerated activities, however, are excepted from the general immunity rule. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 1-39-105 through -112 (LexisNexis 2015). Under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106, "A governmental entity is liable for damages resulting from bodily injury, wrongful death or property damage caused by the negligence of public employees while acting within the scope of their duties in the operation or maintenance of any building, recreation area or public park."
[¶ 7] Mr. Fugle contends that the School District's negligence resulted from the "operation or maintenance" of a building under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106. He also claims that the School District's negligence resulted from the "operation or maintenance" of a recreation area under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106. He contends that under the statute, immunity has been waived for activities that are negligently conducted or supervised in the building or recreation area. Appellees concede that the School District is a governmental entity and that Mr. Nelson was a public employee acting within the scope of his duties. For purposes of the summary judgment motion, Appellees also concede that the science experiment was negligently conducted and Mr. Fugle was injured as a result of that negligence. They assert, however, that under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106, immunity from liability is waived only for activities related to the "operation or maintenance" of the facilities comprising the building or recreation area. They contend that Mr. Fugle's claims of negligence do not relate to any defect in the "operation or maintenance" of the gymnasium and, accordingly, do not fall within the waiver of governmental immunity under the statute.
[¶ 8] In order to resolve this case, we must interpret Section 106 of the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act. In interpreting the WGCA, we apply the following rules of statutory interpretation:
Stroth v. North Lincoln County Hosp. Dist., 2014 WY 81, ¶ 7, 327 P.3d 121, 125 (Wyo. 2014) (quoting Sinclair, ¶¶ 8-9, 270 P.3d at 646).
[¶ 9] We will address, first, Mr. Fugle's claim that Appellees' negligence falls within the exception to immunity from liability for the operation or maintenance of a "building" under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106. We have previously determined that this exception is limited to the State's negligence in making a building functional and, accordingly, applies only to unsafe conditions due to physical defects in the building itself. In State Dep't of Corr. v. Watts, 2008 WY 19, 177 P.3d 793 (Wyo.2008), the plaintiff filed a wrongful death suit against the State after his wife, a nurse employed at the Wyoming Honor Farm, was killed by an inmate at the Honor Farm. He claimed, inter alia, that the Honor Farm had been negligent in failing to install security cameras in the area in which his wife was killed. Id., ¶ 40, 177 P.3d at 803. The State moved for summary judgment, claiming that it was immune from suit under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106. The district court denied the motion, and the State appealed.
[¶ 10] On appeal, the plaintiff contended that "operation or maintenance" of a building should be read broadly to encompass the operation of the physical building as well as the operation of the penal institution within the building. Id., ¶ 22, 177 P.3d at 799. This Court disagreed. We noted, initially, that "operation" had been defined as the "state of being operative or functional" or "the process of operating or mode of action." Id., ¶ 21, 177 P.3d at 799 (quoting City of Torrington v. Cottier, 2006 WY 145, ¶ 8, 145 P.3d 1274, 1278 (Wyo.2006)). We then determined that Section 106, when read in harmony with the other provisions of the WGCA waiving governmental immunity for operation of specific types of institutions, indicated that the legislature intended the waiver of immunity to extend only to the function of the building itself:
Watts, ¶ 23, 177 P.3d at 799. After discussing judicial precedent from other jurisdictions interpreting statutes similar to § 1-39-106, we determined that
Id., ¶ 38, 177 P.3d at 802. Ultimately, we concluded that the plaintiff's negligence claims did not pertain to maintenance or operation of the physical structure of the building and therefore did not fall within the waiver of immunity set forth in Section 106.
[¶ 11] In the present case, Mr. Fugle's complaint alleged that the School District and Mr. Nelson "owed duties to Plaintiff, failed to perform those duties, and the failure to perform the duties proximately caused damages to Plaintiff." His complaint extended to any unknown employees of the School District who were "involved with conducting, supervising, overseeing, or otherwise participating or facilitating the science demonstration that occurred on or about November 23, 2010." In his opposition to Appellees' motion for summary judgment, however, Mr. Fugle claimed that his injury "was a result of his impact with the unpadded gym door jamb which is part of the school building and which was operated without safety procedures." According to Mr. Fugle, "the gym building itself was being operated as part of that experiment and the result from that negligent operation and maintenance resulted in Mr. Fugle's injuries."
[¶ 12] In order to fit his claim within the waiver of governmental immunity set forth in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106, Mr. Fugle alleges a potential defect in the gymnasium due to the failure to provide adequate padding for the science demonstration. His assertions, however, ultimately relate to the design and supervision of the experiment, and not to a defect in the gymnasium. In other words, according to Mr. Fugle's theory, the gymnasium became "defective" only as a result of the design and supervision of the science demonstration. In support of his theory, Mr. Fugle submitted two reports to the district court authored by persons designated by Mr. Fugle as expert witnesses. In the first report, submitted by an engineer, the author opined that Mr. Fugle's injuries occurred as a result of Mr. Nelson's failure to require students to wear safety gear, defects in the design of the experiment, and the lack of adequate safety procedures. Similarly, in the second report, submitted by a physics teacher, the author concluded that Mr. Fugle's injuries occurred as a result of design flaws in the experiment:
Neither report mentions any defect inherent in the school building or the gymnasium.
[¶ 13] Mr. Fugle's assertion is analogous to the claim in Watts, in which the plaintiff alleged negligence due, in part, to the lack of security cameras in the area in which his wife was killed. In Watts, ¶ 40, 177 P.3d at 803, the plaintiff produced testimony suggesting that, "if there had been security cameras to monitor the entrance to the medical offices, it is unlikely Floyd Grady could have prevented detection of his presence and Tammy Watts would not have been killed." Notwithstanding this evidence, we concluded that the plaintiff's "claims of insufficient surveillance or the lack of security cameras do not fall within the waiver." Id. Implicit in our conclusion was the determination that security cameras, which were not mandated by building codes or other laws, were not necessary to the function of the building structure. Similarly, in the present case, Mr. Fugle failed to present any evidence indicating that the gymnasium was inherently defective due to a lack of padding around the doors, or that such padding was required in order to make the gymnasium functional. Accordingly, because Mr. Fugle presented no evidence of a physical defect in the gymnasium, we are unable to conclude that his claims fall within the waiver of governmental immunity
[¶ 14] Mr. Fugle also claims that Appellees' negligence falls within the exception to immunity from liability for the operation or maintenance of a "recreation area" under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106. He claims that this waiver is broader than the waiver of immunity for the operation or maintenance of a building because it extends to all activities conducted within the recreation area. Mr. Fugle relies on our decision in Weber v. State, 2011 WY 127, 261 P.3d 225 (Wyo.2011).
[¶ 15] In Weber, the plaintiff filed a personal injury action against the State after he was burned by hot mineral water in the steam room at the Star Plunge in Hot Springs State Park. According to the plaintiff, the State had been negligent in (1) delivering water to the Star Plunge; (2) approving the design and construction of the steam room; and (3) failing to oversee the property and/or inspect for safety concerns. Id., ¶ 18, 261 P.3d at 230. The State moved for summary judgment, asserting that the plaintiff's claims did not fall within the waiver of governmental immunity for the operation or maintenance of a public park under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106. Relying on our decision in Watts, the district court granted the State's motion. On appeal, we distinguished the waiver of immunity for the operation or maintenance of a building, at issue in Watts, from the waiver for operation or maintenance of a public park:
Weber, ¶¶ 15-17, 261 P.3d at 229-30. Ultimately, we held that the waiver of governmental immunity for operation or maintenance of a public park under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106 applied to the plaintiff's claims that the State had been negligent in approving the design and construction of the steam room and in failing to properly oversee the property and/or inspect for safety concerns. Id., ¶¶ 22-24, 261 P.3d at 231-32.
[¶ 16] According to Mr. Fugle, our decision in Weber indicates that the waiver of immunity from liability for negligence in the operation or maintenance of a recreation area applies to negligence relating to any activities undertaken within the recreation area. We do not agree. Mr. Fugle relies heavily on the statement, from Weber, that "the waiver of immunity for parks includes the activities undertaken by the State within the park facilities." The specific "activities" at issue in Weber, however, related to operation or maintenance of the physical facilities in the park. We began our analysis in that case by noting that the "standard definition of [a] park ... includes whatever `amenities' and `facilities for recreation' the owner of the park chooses to incorporate." Id., ¶ 16, 261 P.3d at 230. We noted that, under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 36-8-304, the State acted under specific statutory authorization to lease park lands and provide water to its lessees. Based on that statutory authorization, we concluded the legislature intended to waive immunity for negligence in approving the design and construction of the steam room and in delivering water to the steam room:
Weber, ¶ 20, 261 P.3d at 231. We also found that our reasoning was consistent with the application of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106 in cases involving recreation areas. Indeed, in both of the cases cited in Weber involving operation of a recreation area, the alleged negligence related to operation of the physical attributes of the recreation area, and not the activities conducted within the recreation area. In DiVenere, 811 P.2d at 274, the plaintiffs alleged that the State was negligent in failing to keep a walkway in the University of Wyoming's football stadium free of ice. In Newberry, 919 P.2d at 143-44, the plaintiff alleged the State was negligent in failing to maintain a trestle on a public trail.
[¶ 17] Assuming, without deciding, that a high school gymnasium is a recreation area, we cannot conclude that conducting and supervising a science demonstration constitutes operation or maintenance of a recreation area simply because the activity takes place there. Mr. Fugle suggests that the State's immunity from liability depends on the location of the demonstration. According to his interpretation of the Governmental Claims Act, Appellees would have preserved their immunity from liability if the demonstration had been conducted in a classroom. We do not think the legislature intended such a result. In this case, unlike in Weber, the alleged negligence does not relate to any defect in the design or construction of a physical structure or facility. Ultimately, we find no reason to conclude that the legislature intended for the waiver of immunity from liability in the operation or maintenance of a recreation area to apply to all activities
[¶ 18] Consequently, for purposes of our analysis in the present case, the "recreation area" at issue is not distinguishable from the "building" under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106. As a result, the waiver of immunity from liability for operation or maintenance of the recreation area in this case is co-extensive with the waiver for operation or maintenance of the building. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth above, we conclude that Mr. Fugle's claim does not fall within the waiver of governmental immunity set forth at Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106.
[¶ 19] As a final matter, we note that during oral argument, counsel for Mr. Fugle commented extensively on the inherent unfairness and harshness of the Governmental Claims Act as applied in this case. Mr. Fugle contends that students who are negligently injured by the actions or inactions of school employees acting within the scope of their responsibilities should have a legal remedy. He argues that there is no legitimate justification for permitting the School District to be shielded from liability for injuries sustained by students under its care. That appeal, however, is appropriately addressed to the legislature or, perhaps, to the School District.
[¶ 20] We have previously explained that the doctrine of sovereign immunity "has its roots in the ancient common law of England which held `The King can do no wrong' and hence could not be sued in any court of law." Worthington v. State, 598 P.2d 796, 803 (Wyo.1979) (footnote omitted). Since 1979, however, the doctrine has been controlled by statute and, in recognition of the unfairness in preventing certain plaintiffs from obtaining a remedy, our legislature has set forth exceptions to the doctrine:
Campbell County Mem. Hosp. v. Pfeifle, 2014 WY 3, ¶ ¶ 18-19, 317 P.3d 573, 578 (Wyo. 2014). We have endeavored to interpret the statutory language pertaining to one of the exceptions created by the legislature and have found that the exception set forth in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-106 does not apply and does not provide a remedy for Mr. Fugle.
[¶ 21] We would also note that the legislature has provided governmental entities the option to secure liability insurance and, in such a case, immunity is waived to the extent of that insurance. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 21-3-129; 1-39-118(b)(i).
[¶ 22] Affirmed.
Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-118(b)(i) provides:
