While many schools have seen their expenditures on insurance increase by double digits during recent years, the Allen County School District along with the partners of Education Risk Solutions (ERS) have been recognized for reducing the “controllable/avoidable portion” of their insurance premium by 10 percent over the last three years. The achievement for the 2012, 2013, and 2014 school years not only keeps insurance costs flat but actually has lowered the district’s Workers Compensation cost in the amount of $30,548.
Allen County School District Director of Operations Brian Carter explained that the efforts of Education Risk Solutions helped the district create a healthier and safer working environment.
“Jordan (Clarke) and Tammy (Adams) worked with our schools to establish a safety committee which brought more awareness to the schools about what we could do to ultimately cut down on injuries and help our employees to be healthier,” Carter said. “This helps our employees to be at work and all this saves the district money.”
Jordan Clarke, a managing partner at ERS, noted that his company has been working with the school district to help manage insurance costs by looking at ways to reduce time lost due to injuries on the job.
“There are limited number of insurance companies who will provide insurance for school districts,” Clarke pointed out. “Typically they will all be competitive with each other on rate. So the only intelligent approach---assuming the school district wants to pay the least amount possible---is to work with an agent who has the resources and track record to reduce the surcharges that originate from each claim. We have been aggressively working with the district safety committee to make the entire school system a safer place to work and have succeeded in reducing the number of employee injuries by 59 percent since 2012. I am proud that Allen County is now paying 10 percent less in controllable premium than the average school in Kentucky.”
The results will help both students in the district and taxpayers in the county.
“The key is that our taxpayers win,” added Allen County School Superintendent Randall Jackson. “The combination of teacher safety and injury management are generally not visible as line items in the budget. No one thinks about this savings until they realize the taxpayers of Allen County don’t have to pay for 61 Apple Ipads at $500 each or a new Drivers Education car.”
The 10 percent improvement in Allen County’s experience modifier is based upon fewer claims and helping injured workers get back to work quicker. The end result is a savings in the controllable portion of the district’s premium of $30,548, according to L.J. Scamahorn, the executive director of the Controllable Premium National Education Association---a national group who honors employers and insurance agents who are succeeding in reducing the controllable portion of their insurance premiums.