SchoolRisk News |
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Corporate Partners |
Munich RE
Arthur J. Gallagher
SchoolDude
CBIZ
JDI Data Corp.
Markel Underwriting Managers
PublicSchoolWORKS
Holborn
Genesis Underwriting Mgt.
Willis
Company Nurse
Target Safety
Norman Peterson & Assoc.
Selective Insurance
MediCor
Core Management Resources Group
AssetWORKS
to learn more about our sponsors and links to their webpage or to find information about the corporate partner program please visit
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Founding
School Risk Groups |
Florida School Boards Insurance Trust
Minnesota School Boards Insurance Trust
New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal
Schools of Ohio Risk Sharing Authority
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Insurance Trust
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Founding
School Districts |
City of Atlanta, GA City of Chicago, IL Clark County, NV
City of Cleveland, OH
Dekalb County, GA Fairfax County, VA
Francis Howell, MO Fulton County, GA Miami-Dade, FL Rockdale County,GA San Francisco USD, CA
Wake County, NC
Other districts that are direct or associate members now number more than 1,300 .
To find out how to join, click here!
SchoolRisk.org
School leaders who are members can search the directory and find districts with similar risk management interests
If you are a member of PSRI, remember to use the Institute's
Fast Answer
for access to top risk management professionals. Reports are compiled, distributed and archived to save time and money.
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Risk management is... a vital business process. |
School Risk
Management in the Sunshine State |
Florida school risk managers created a professional development organization more than twenty years ago. In mid June, representatives from school
districts from across Florida were gathered in Sarasota for the Summer
Conference of FERMA - the Florida Educational Risk Management Association. FERMA president, Ted Pafundi, risk manager
for Pinellas County Schools, called the conference to order on June 16. At the end of the conference, he turned the
gavel over to incoming president, Glen Lathers, risk manager for Hillsborough
County Schools. Pafundi commented after
the conference that he felt the event was successful and the speakers were
excellent.
The program included a short legislative update session,
keynote address by Nick Yphantides, MD, eleven lecture sessions with an
array of outstanding speakers, two networking receptions and an awards
dinner.
Nancy Haden, retired from Marion
County Schools and John Radcliffe, Duvall County Schools were the first inductees
into FERMA's newly created Hall of Fame.
Haden and Radcliffe were
recognized for outstanding career service and their work in founding
FERMA some twenty four year ago.
The session topics covered "what's new" in workers'
compensation, ethics, employee physicals, property insurance, health care
environment, employee benefit dependent audits, student accident insurance, web
based employee benefit administration, employee wellness, WC Interface with GL,
and crisis planning. Twenty four
companies helped support the conference as sponsors.
To visit FERMA's website click here
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North Carolina Chooses Corvel to Manage School WC Claims |
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The state of North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction (DPI)
chose Corvel to take over the claims administration for its school district
workers' compensation fund, effective July 1.
The fund covers all employees of local education agencies who are
classified as state employees for purposes of workers' compensation and some
employees who have split classification - local and state. School districts are responsible for
coverage on all other employees.
For
FY08, the DPI reported $42.8 million in loss payments from its fund. Ms. Eileen Townsend oversees the fund as the
section chief for the DPI's insurance staff.
On July 29, DPI
conducted a four hour session that provided an update on the fund, along
with cost containment information, for finance officers attending a workshop
hosted by the North Carolina Association of School Business Officials. The panel included two Corvel representatives
and three local district risk managers, Curtis Grogan, Wake County Schools,
Henry Smith, Cumberland County Schools and Ron Allen, Durham County Schools.
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$59 Million Awarded
for School Safety and Health Grants
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The Federal 2009 Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiatives
discretionary grants were announced in early July. Almost $33 million will be distributed among
twenty-seven districts and two boards of cooperative education services. The grants range in amounts from about
$700,000 to almost $1.5 million. The
grants support comprehensive plans for curricula, programs and services that
focus on creating safe school environments, healthy childhood development, violence
prevention and prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use.
Under the Federal Readiness and Emergency Management for
Schools (REMS) discretionary grant program, 108 other local districts will be
sharing about $26 million in the coming year.
Grants range in amounts from about $100,000 to $600,000. These grants provide funds for districts to
improve and strengthen their emergency management plans and address all four
phases of emergency management: Prevention-Mitigation, Preparedness, Response,
and Recovery. Plans must include training for school
staff, a plan to sustain local partnerships after the period of Federal
assistance, a plan for communicating emergency management policies and
reunification procedures to parents, and a written plan for improving district
capacity to sustain the emergency management process through ongoing training
and continual review of policies and procedures. In addition, districts must
agree to support the implementation of the National Incident Management System
and commit to developing plans that take into consideration special needs
populations within the district. Lastly, districts must agree to develop a
written food defense plan and an infectious disease plan designed to prepare
the district for possible infectious disease outbreak. |
Science and Safety
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Nearly a decade has passed since the Glenn Commission produced Before It's Too Late, a visionary report on the state of science and mathematics education in the United States. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the world's largest organization of science educators, is taking action. With Senator John Glenn as Honorary Chair, a five-year, $43 million national effort is underway to make excellence in science teaching and learning a reality for all U.S. students.
Click here to watch video
Hazards in science education are numerous. Kenneth Roy, Ph.D, of Glastonbury Public Schools (CT) and Linda Stroud, Ph.D, recently completed an analysis of OSHA training requirements related to science education. Dr. Roy is Director of Environmental Health & Safety for his district. Dr.
Stroud is president of Science & Safety Consulting, Raleigh
NC and serves as chair of the Safety
Advisory Committee of the National Science Teachers Association. Click here for OSHA analysis paper.
Dr. Stroud has also published Science
Lab Safety Manual for Schools, a 408
page comprehensive resource, packed with information, risk assessment forms.
Additional safety resources are available from the Council of State Science Supervisors. Click here
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Hillsborough Launches
Student-Athlete Accident Insurance Website |
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The beginning of football practice brings up questions
about accident insurance, who's got it and where is the verification form. Parents of student-athletes in Hillsborough
County Schools (Tampa) can now log on to a website that allows them to enroll
in the district's sponsored plan.
Coaches have access to player rosters showing which students have
furnished evidence of coverage from personal insurer or the district's
plan.
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SELF Most Often the Top Layer in California Coverage
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For more than 20 years,
Schools Excess Liability Fund (SELF) has been providing "umbrella
type" protection above primary layers of coverage for California
school districts and school insurance pools members. (In California, pools are
known as joint powers authorities or JPAs)
Protection is available for liability exposures and statutory workers'
compensation act exposure. SELF counts participation of 85% of the school districts in the state representing 77% of the total average daily attendance. The organization can provide its members with liability coverage up to $50 million and beyond through quality, Best's rated reinsurance markets. Learn about SELF -- click here.
Earlier in July, SELF announced the results of its annual
election of board members. To review the press release go to:
Press Release
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Training Table Update
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The Institute is continuing to explore ways to help its members and
produce reliable information needed for evaluation and implementation
of effective training programs for risk control and safety. Below are some notes on new courses, events, vendors of interest:
- Chuck Origer of MicroAssist/Ethics Ed is available to discuss the
benefits of their online course titled "Preventing Sexual Misconduct and Abuse in Schools."
- Jeff Cassell of School Bus Training Company has been busy making presentations across the country about their new Driver Training Course. He reported that the course has been purchased for use in more than twenty states. The course is a recommended product of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.
- Sandra Greene reported on the Coastal Training e-Learning Forum held at its headquarters in Virginia Beach. A variety of presenters from several industry and professional perspectives talked about best practices and the continuing evolution of training approaches and courseware issues.
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Special Traits of Effective Risk Managers |
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How many of us know what it takes to be an effective risk manager? One of the leading risk management educators described the "quintessential characteristic of an effective risk manager" in an article titled, "Risk Management Heralds a New Renaissance." The next issue of SchoolRisk News will highlight some of the key points from this article and insights of the author, George Head, Ph.D.
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Reading Lists
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What publications are school risk managers reading? That's the question posed to the Institute on
a hot day in July by the risk manager in a fast growing district with over
100,000 students. To find out, the
Institute will begin circulating a publications list for review. Risk managers can check the items they
regularly subscribe to or write in names of publications that are not
listed. The goal is to publish the
reading list report early this fall.
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New PSRI Board Member
Appointed |
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Mr. Wayne Smith has joined the eleven-member board of
directors of the Public School Risk Institute for a three year term. Wayne is
Assistant Executive Director, Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA)
where he directs the affairs of the PSBA Insurance Trust and also serves as
Board Chairman of School Boards Insurance Company of Pennsylvania and CEO of
School Claims Services, LLC. PSBA was one of the first school boards
associations in the nation to provide property-casualty insurance coverage.
Over the years, the PSBA Insurance Trust provided risk
management, legal liability coverage, unemployment compensation insurance and
other endorsed insurance products provided by various insurers. In 2007, PSBA experienced a new "first"
when it became the first state school boards association in the US to own and
operate a licensed insurance company, School Boards Insurance Company of
Pennsylvania, Inc.
You can learn more about PSBA's innovation programs at PSBA Insurance Trust
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We hope you find the Institute's newly updated website useful. Please visit regularly and let us know how we can support your efforts to advance risk management. Your input and feedback is greatly desired and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Lee Gaby, Executive Director Public School Risk Institute [email protected] NEW Phone (706) 715-3381 Ext. 701
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