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Risk management is... a vital business process. |
Business Officials Grapple with Paradox of Risk As Coverage Plans Come Up for Renewal
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Various commentators have
suggested that there is a paradox of risk or risk paradox. They suggest
that humans accept more risk when risk is apparently lower, become too familiar
with risk and are blind to it, or become more confident about risk
despite declining odds of success. Evidence suggests that judgment may be impaired by safety devices, favorable past experiences and the
comfort of insurance.
Research
also shows that there will be fewer accidents and injuries when an organization is
attentive to loss exposure and not merely its own past experience. Risk
amnesia and myopia or near-sightedness to risk are frequently mentioned as elements in an
organization's view of uncertainty.
To sustain smooth operations and cash flow, school business officials must
continue to anticipate adverse outcomes and come up with plans to
transfer loss exposures. Understanding the paradox of risk can help school
business officials work through their options to find the ones that best meet
the needs of their district.
Budgeting
and arranging for services that assume loss exposures is an
essential risk management task in school districts. Commercial
insurance plans
are still used for certain advantages at
different
times in market cycles and to cover extraordinary
exposures. Increasingly however, school districts have turned to
interlocal
services created as nonprofit insurance trusts, joint powers
authorities,
self-insurance funds, insurance reciprocals and joint insurance
funds. Many of these "risk groups" have developed comprehensive
services,
while others are restricted by state law to certain lines of
coverage.
School business leaders across the country appreciate today's landscape of changing risk
exposures and service provider options. Getting to the top in educational
leadership can be easier with the help of a risk group and renewed commitment to injury
prevention.
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Stopping Bullying, Transforming Safety Culture
| | School leaders work at many levels and across their organizations to protect students from physical assault and mental torment from bullies, while also preventing employee injuries that seem to mount as the school year begins to wind down. An article in the April 19 edition of Business Insurance magazine included opinions from a variety of sources that all seemed to confirm the need for renewed sense of urgency about the injuries and emotional trauma inflicted by bullying. Anti-bullying initiatives are not new. State legislatures have been considering changes to
reporting and discipline statutes, along with mandates for school board
policies. State laws vary
and definitions of bullying differ. Cyberbullying
has gained greater emphasis.
A comprehensive approach includes school board policies and administrative
procedures combined with training for staff, parents and students. An approach to control bullying on a
systemic basis combines effective intervention with programs that empower
students to diffuse peer aggression.
Broward County Schools FL has been cited as a model for
comprehensive bullying prevention initiatives in a large district.
A recent presentation titled,"Bullying: A Decade After
Columbine, What has Changed?" includes
views of several experts in bullying prevention assembled by American School
Board Journal, American School Counselor Association and Solution
Tree. Here are five key points gleaned from the presentation:
Acknowledge
that peer aggression is a systems issue; at the system's center are 3 key
relational sets: student/student, staff/student, and staff/staff. Recognize
that peer aggression is a relational issue that requires relational
solutions. Peers are central to the solutions and must be included in the
process of creating them. The focus is on changing peer norms and behavior
using peer produced data and student lead initiatives to change school
culture. (social norms interventions) At the heart of the work is climate
and culture change informed by research from education, the social
sciences and neurology. Use
brain research on stress and its effects on learning and memory to get
buy-in from staff and create effective interventions. Identify
local biases that contribute to the marginalization of certain groups or
individuals - these biases create local norms that make acceptable,
aggression toward certain individuals based on social status or class,
looks, personality, and personal traits (weight, height, race, sexual
orientation, gender identity, handicap,etc.). Use surveys (students, parents, teachers) to identify
which biases need attention. Uphold
these four fundamental guiding principles:
a) Respect for all. b) Protect targeted youth. c) Empower students to take positive social action.
d) Restore and maintain a sense of community by intentionally
building and improving relationships through a restorative approach.
The following recommendations were
included in a report by United Educators Insurance, May 2008:
Adopt
and enforce antibullying policy Address
cyberbullying Monitor
bullying "hot spots." Understand
children's roles in bullying prevention Intervene
in bullying situations Investigate
all threats of violence Consider
the needs of students with disabilities
The list of people and
organizations working to prevent bullying is very long and continues to grow.
Numerous consultants and trainers with special emphasis on bullying prevention,
with strong credentials and track records are available to help school
administrators from coast to coast.
Some are well known with documented results, while others may be new and
only have experience in a small region. Even though a complete registry of
programs and training does not exist, there are several sources that can be
used to identify successful culture change programs. Employees Nurture Networks and Model Actively Caring Behavior to Transform Culture
Safety leaders throughout the school district can nurture a network to transform culture by: - Showing and telling colleagues what needs to be done, not what to do.
- Encouraging opinion makers to participate.
- Anointing the process and modeling the behavior.
- Letting colleagues know the goals and their
respective roles. Help them see what needs to be done.
- Reaching the group leaders in all departments
and operating units to gain their active role in the network.
- Draw out questions and answers
and become a catalyst both within and outside the networks to get them
going.
- Providing the
resources in a "seeding platform," translating what others say and making it
concrete and usable.
Effective facilitation skills can make a big difference in the current environment. Programs that promote employee wellness may also be helpful in bringing about change in student behavior.
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Suggestion for Auto Safety Leadership
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| At least one leading safety educator has been challenging his audience members to take the lead in completely putting away their cell phones while driving - urging them to discontinue even what some might consider safe "hands free" calling.
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Prevention Points and Priorities
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| Denver Public Schools has again demonstrated its leadership in addressing a common safety concern. The risk management department led by Stephen Finley, risk manager, and Debbie Beck, project manager, produced a new series of high quality videos for use in preventing school traffic injuries. The series has four segments, Getting To School Safely - intended for parents, Be Smart About Safety - for students grades ECE-2, Be Serious About Safety - for students grades 3-5, and Getting to School Safety - created for Principals.
Ideas for student safety range from healthier, more nutrious lunches to
banning the three point stance for offensive linemen. There are
numerous approaches suggested to reduce slip, trips and falls in
schools. Federal legislation is pending to control the use of
restraints and seclusion in special education, expand the reach of OSHA and
more. Recently adopted and proposed state legislative measures
continue to raise the awareness of hundreds of exposures facing
schools. Risk mapping and other techniques for setting priorities can
help districts move from risk identification to appropriate risk
treatment. The Institute can provide more information on the Denver program and many others that districts and school risk groups have created for effective loss prevention.
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Business Officials Learn from Wide Variety of Risk Management Educators
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| Tracking recent events from New York to California Risk management education has been taking place from coast to coast in the past few months. Sessions at school business official conferences, webinars, small group meetings and programs sponsored by risk groups have covered a wide range of topics and issues.
The February 15-19 Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO) event in Ft. Worth included about 25 sessions
on safe schools, occupational safety and risk financing topics.
The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research has held 32 sessions for its Certified School Risk Manager (CSRM) in 2010.
Dr. Scott Geller, professor at Virginia
Tech University and founder of Safety Performance Solutions, who along
with his colleague Steve Roberts, spent most of the afternoon on April
9 with safety and risk management officers from three of North
Carolina's largest school districts. The group learned about bullying
prevention efforts that Virginia Tech has undertaken in Blacksburg
area public schools. Dr. Geller was the featured speaker for the
Charlotte Regional Safety & Health
Conference and presented his latest book, When No One's Watching: Living and Leading Self-Motivation.
Business officials who gathered in Sacramento April 16-19 for the Annual Conference of the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) were offered
18 sessions on a variety of safety and risk management topics.
Scott Wightman of Arthur J. Gallagher conducted a national webinar for public
school districts on April 19 titled, "The Insurance Market: Why Does It
Have to Be So Crazy?"
Colorado Association of School Business Officials held its annual conference April 14-16 with the theme "Transparent Uncertainty." Cheryle Mangels, Executive Director of Colorado School Districts Self-Insurance Fund and Karen Graham of Arthur J. Gallagher were featured presenters for a session titled, "Risk Management Tactics."
The Southeastern Association of School Business Officials meeting in Little Rock Arkansas April 18-21 included sessions titled,"Is it Your Dream Not to Have Fraud at Your School?" featuring Steve Bateson, Chesterfield County Schools, VA and "Protecting the Diamonds: Insurance Issues in Today's Market," presented by Nancy Sylvester, CPCU, Arthur J.Gallagher Risk Management Services. Agent Pierre of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) presented a session on Electronic Fraud.
Agents of the FBI have also been the featured presenters on cyber crime prevention in several workshops conducted in April by New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal.
The
names of presenters who gave of their time for the TASBO and CASBO
programs are listed at the end of
this newsletter.
The Institute will try to include brief highlights of other events in future editions. Presentation materials may be obtained on request or found in the Institute Reference Library or in the Community Resources of Risk Central.
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Meeting Notes
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| SchoolDude.com held its annual School Dude University, March 21-23. Over 600 attendees took part from districts across the US. The event featured hands-on software training and 200 sessions for facility, IT, events and transportation officials and a dinner to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary.
The Risk & Insurance Management Society met in Boston April 22-26. Scott Clarke, risk manager for Miami-Dade Schools and Dave George, risk manager for San Francisco Schools were among those attending.
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New York Schools Get Single Sign-On to Institute
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| More than 350 districts that belong to the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal (NYSIR) are now able to go directly from the "members only" area of the NYSIR website to the "members only" area of Institute website. Special software coding was completed in early April. Additional linking projects are anticipated with other risk groups and nonprofit affiliates.
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Columbine Anniversary Passes Quietly
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| The tragic K-12 school shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 has not been forgotten. This year's anniversary apparently passed without any copycat incident or significant media attention.
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National Flood Insurance Plan Extended
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President Obama has signed
legislation that extends the National Flood Insurance Program through May 31.
The extension, which is part of a comprehensive measure that temporarily
extends a variety of federal programs, allows the NFIP to again issue new
policies. The program had lapsed March 28.
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Districts Seek Coverage That Also Makes Schools ane Employees Safer
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The paradox of risk has additional implications for those districts that are
both more vulnerable to loss and also less exposed to frequency of
losses. Most people agree that it is important to view risk with both a
historical perspective and a future-oriented outlook. Experienced
managers have learned that your own loss experience does not tell you all you
need to know.
Business officials have the added challenge now of identifying
service gaps from coverage providers at the same time that their own staff resources are
being stretched thin.
"Rent-a-risk manager" and other
creative consulting programs offered by some risk groups can help enhance
on-site training and provide the support needed for coordination and
progress on critical prevention activities. |
EDUCATION SESSION PRESENTERS
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| Texas Association of School Business Officials Annual Conference - Risk Management Session Presenters: Helen O'Neal, Leander ISD Wil Turner, Dallas ISD Kimi Tate, Dallas ISD Alan Smith, Garland ISD Mark Booker, Garland ISD Judyann Robinson, Irving ISD Michelle Faust, Round Rock ISD Russ Edwards, Kite Services Doris McIntosh, San Angelo ISD Larry Pfeifer, Sheldon ISD Denise Chuick, Spring ISD John Trevino, North East ISD James Carrillo, Region IV ESC Ray Weaver, Plano ISD Cecile Russell, Russell Consulting Sam Russell, Lewisville ISD A. J. Turner, San Angelo ISD Darla Humes, Leander ISD Laura Santo-Farry, Leanes ISD Tim Sanz, Frisco ISD Bill Stone, Edwards Risk Management John Gann, Keller ISD Tommy Lane, Keller ISD Richard Middleton, North East ISD Dan Villarreal, North East ISD Rod Williams, Omni Group Dan Roberts, Round Rock ISD Ed Salyers, IRS Pat Lamb, Irving ISD James Terry, North East ISD Thomas Ramos, North East ISD Margarita Pizano-Flores, Brownsville ISD Tom Canby, TASBO Amanda Goodwin, TASB Gerald Lamping, North East ISD Ron Clary, North East ISD George Scherer, TASB Alyssa Martin, Weaver & Tidwell Neal Welch, Willis Insurance Rick Tisch, Willis Insurance
California Association of School Business Officials Annual Conference - Risk Management Session Presenters: Jody Gray, Southern CA Risk Management Associates Robin Flint, Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Purchasing Terri Pritchard, Merced County Schools Insurance Group Vern Sanborn, Santa Barbara County SIPE Garth Maijala, San Luis Obispo-SIPE Doug Carson, Tuolumne JPA Aida Santillana, Santa Clara Schools Insurance Group Art Pedroza, ESM Solutions Lisa Konarski, Schools Insurance Authority Michele Mariscal, Schools Insurance Authority Mutjaba Datoo, AON Global Risk Consulting Medy Beauchane, Grancell, Lebovits, Stander, Reubens & Thompson Julie Smith, Schools Insurance Authority Marcia Whiting, Schools Insurance Authority Jeffrey Malek, Malek & Malek David Soldani, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo Linda Davis-Alldritt, CA Dept of Education Jeannie Goobanoff, Goobanoff & Associates Erin Tarkhanian, Redwood Empire Schools Insurance Group
Thanks to all of these individuals and their organizations to their commitment. In future editions, we will try to recognize other presenters and include highlights of educational events.
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Public School Risk Institute
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Please call or send us a note with your comments and
suggestions about this newsletter and any projects you would like to see us
undertake. We also want to receive school contact names, contacts with
organizations you believe may want to be involved, and material for the new
website resources.
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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