Gilroy
– The school district has the worst safety record of any its
size and the second worst overall, and its accident insurance
premiums have doubled since 2001. Chances of a quick fix are
remote, but eventually decreasing the number of accidents – thus
premiums – is not
Gilroy – The school district has the worst safety record of any its size and the second worst overall, and its accident insurance premiums have doubled since 2001. Chances of a quick fix are remote, but eventually decreasing the number of accidents – thus premiums – is not.
The district’s insurance premium has doubled to $1.8 million over the past three years. The only other school district in the county with a worse safety record is Lakewide Elementary, which is far from comparable to GUSD in terms of size and payroll. Lakeside, in Los Gatos, has a $753,000 payroll and pays $30,550 premium. GUSD has a $46.129 million payroll.
As judged by its insurance provider, the Santa Clara County Schools’ Insurance Group, GUSD’s accident rate is 52.3 percent above the average of other schools in the insurance group. Premiums are based on a rating system that is determined by averaging accident expenses from three consecutive years during a five-year span. The most recent years of calculation, 1999 to 2001, were three years that GUSD experienced an increase in accident rates.
“We’ve earned our premium, unfortunately,” said Steve Brinkman, the district’s assistant superintendent of administrative services.
The Oak Grove School District, a comparable district to GUSD both in terms of payroll and size, has a rating of 16 percent above the average district and a premium of $1.5 million.
The Fremont Unified School District entered the Santa Clara County Schools Insurance Group this year with a rating 24 percent below the average, the best within the entire insurance group. If GUSD had a similar safety record, its premium would be $900,000, Brinkman said.
Fremont’s low rating hiked up all of the other members’ premiums in accordance with their ratings – the higher the rating, the more costly the premium. GUSD’s premium skyrocketed between $90,000 and $100,000 this year, Brinkman said.
There were 78 accidents involving GUSD employees in 2003. In 2002, there were 82 and in 2001 there were 75.
But, between July and December of this year, there have been 19 claims, down about half from the usual number of reports this time of year.
Brinkman said he expects GUSD’s rating to continue to rise – or at least remain stagnant – for the next several years, unless the safety record improves considerably for the three consecutive years when the ratings are determined.
The chances of GUSD finding an economical private insurance plan are slim because of the district’s poor safety record. But through working with two insurance brokers, district staff pinpointed a viable plan through the Protected Insurance Group for Schools. The insurance group encompasses more than 300 schools or school agencies with nearly $7 billion in payroll – a much larger group than the district’s current insurance group, which means, theoretically, lower premiums for each member.
The district would have saved $274,000 had it been a member with the new insurance group this school year, but it won’t know rates for either insurance group until mid- to late-May. District staff will watch the programs closely from now until the end of March, when the current insurance group requires final notice of withdrawal. The board unanimously approved providing tentative notice, with Trustee David McRae absent due to recent surgery.
“We’re going on logic here,” Brinkman said. “And (switching groups) is not the ultimate goal. This is an interim goal. The ultimate goal is to market our district our district as doing better than the average in terms of safety.”
There is a three-year minimum membership requirement in the new insurance group, and that time span would give the district a chance to improve its safety record and perhaps find a better, more customized insurance program.
In August, the district adopted a 14-point plan to help improve its safety record. The blueprint calls for several steps including organizing a safety committee, selecting efficient doctors who get employees back to work in a timely manner and developing a discipline process for employees who neglect to follow safety measures.
Most of the steps of the plan already have been implemented or are being worked into the district, Brinkman said. Still being discussed are the decision about the insurance groups and the hiring of a full-time safety manager – something Brinkman said is imperative to improving the district’s safety record.
“There’s no doubt in my mind if we hired a full-time safety management person that we’d do better,” Brinkman said.
Although creating the position in a time of widespread budget reductions seems contradictory, Brinkman said the long-term savings would substantially outweigh the cost of the position, which is estimated at $70,000 plus benefits. District staff will continue evaluating the possibility of the position over the next six months, but Brinkman said hiring someone now would not be economical for the short term.
“Being that so much of the district’s funds are impacted by this situation, I think this is a very serious situation,” said Trustee Jaime Rosso. “It needs more attention than it’s gotten. … I don’t know if we can wait another year or two years to get on this.”
Since August, district staff have made between 18 and 20 presentations in different Gilroy schools as well as to the teachers’ unions. Trustee Pat Midtgaard said the presentations are a key part of educating employees about how to proceed with potentially risky tasks.
“I think awareness is a key issue,” she said. “If a teacher needs to move a bookcase and there’s no one to move it, the teacher will do it themselves. They’ll get the job done.”
Between July and November of this year, employees reported six incidents of strains or sprains, three falls and four contusions. There were three additional miscellaneous reports. Of the total incidents, six were filed by teachers, three by food service employees, four by custodians, one by a clerical employee, one by a district office employee and one by a miscellaneous employee.
The number of claims made by teachers compared to other occupations in the district, such as custodians, generally is higher because there are more teachers in the district, even though other employees are required to perform more dangerous tasks.
