Accident Insurance in New School Budget, But Debate On Current Policy Remains

Contained in the first budget to be presented under the leadership of the board majority elected last April is an item the previous board decided to remove: student accident insurance.

The insurance, which acts as a secondary policy when students are injured while participating in after school sports and activities, comes at a steep price, however. The board has set aside $310,000 in their proposed school budget for the coverage.

While board members have asked that administrators solicit additional bids and consider higher deductibles to bring down the initial cost, the question of what to do in the mean time has arose.

The board's current policy on student accident insurance is what some have described as confusing. Under the board's official policy, the district will "provide" student activity insurance.

This language, some have argued, led parents to believe the district paid for the policy as well, though since it was removed from the budget for the 2010-11 school year, the district provided a policy that could be purchased by parents for a fee.

Business Administrator James Edwards said while he hasn't seen many problems, two parents have asked the district to reimburse them for medical expenses their own insurance policies did not cover since they were under the impression the district had a secondary policy in place.

That led to a resolution being placed on the Board of Education's agenda to clarify the existing policy to reflect that student accident insurance is available for a fee – a resolution that is not sitting well with some board members who do not agree with such a policy and have spearheaded reinstating the insurance for the 2012-13 school year.

"I don't know how you do away with a policy without changing the policy," board member John Talty said.

"If that board wanted to stop it, they should have changed the policy like you want us to do now," Talty told Edwards at a recent meeting, saying voting in favor of changing the official policy for the remainder of the current school year would be akin to voting for something in which he does not believe.

Districts are not obligated to provide student accident insurance of any kind. Edwards said by the time the Brick district stopped purchasing the policy, approximately $265,000 in claims were being made each year.

When the policy was canceled, he said, there was not a public uproar.

"People haven't been knocking down my door looking for this type of coverage," Edwards said.

"We have, through administrators, notified parents that we don't purchase student accident insurance," he added.

Brick Township Education Association President Tim Puglisi took issue with that, however, telling the board that notices were not sent to middle school students about the optional, fee-based insurance until the spring sports season this year.

The overall debate on whether to purchase student accident insurance seems to be settled. The county superintendent of schools has approved a budget that includes the policy, and the board is expected to adopt that budget after a public hearing March 29.

The vote to change the wording of the existing policy for the remainder of the current school year has been tabled.