2024-01-19-minutes.txt

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Puyallup School District
Special Board Meeting - Board Study Session
Kessler Center and Livestreamed via Zoom
Friday, January 19, 2024
  Please note: The video recording and any attachments in BoardDocs constitute an accurate record of the Puyallup School District proceedings at this meeting. The following summary is provided as an overview of the meeting and a guide to the video recording.
  1. Opening
A. Call to Order
President Joseph Romero called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. In addition to President Romero, in attendance were Directors David Berg, Shannon Burch, Gretchen Miles and Maddie Names, as well as Superintendent Dr. John Polm. 
  B. Pledge of Allegiance
President Romero led the Pledge of Allegiance.
  2. Board Study Session (00:00:40)
A. Executive Administration - Board Retreat; Deborah Callahan, Executive Director WSRMP; Charles Leitch, Attorney, and Dr. John Polm, Superintendent
(00:01:35) Deborah Callahan provided some information about her background (29 years with WSRMP and 46-47 years total in insurance) and introduced Charles Leitch. Dr. John Polm described the timeline for today's presentation. The Board heard from the above presenters from WSRMP (Washington Schools Risk Management Pool) regarding liability training and legal considerations for school boards. Mr. Leitch presented first. (00:03:03). Charles said he has worked with Deborah and the risk pool since 1998. He has represented Puyallup SD in several matters over the years so is very familiar with the district.
Highlights covered:
The board exists to hire the superintendent, policies, facilitate district
The board has different roles than the superintendent
Board members are subject to FERPA (Family Education Records Privacy Act). Passed in 1974. Federal law through which all the federal dollars come into the state of Washington. Covers privacy of students and student records. Be mindful of what your role is as a board member.
Appeals to the board
OPMA training at WSSDA; regulates your interactions as a board
Everything is more complicated now because of technology
All meetings must be open and public except it doesn't apply to quasi-judicial meetings under District policies/regulations, (appeal of suspension, employee discipline appeal, etc.) and collective bargaining sessions.
OPMA still applies to rolling or serial meetings: email exchanges, phone calls and messages, use of social media, conferring to call a special meeting and discussing a topic and talking about something as a prelude to taking action.
Emails from superintendent - passive receipt of information via email is not a meeting. However, discussion of issues via email can constitute a meeting.
Phone calls? The litmus test is if you intend to take action.
You can't talk about things at dinner that the public may be interested in. Look at it from the lens that when you take action on something or come to a decision, that has to be made in public

Public Records Act - these requests cost the district money. The legislature has mandated that public entities have to devote significant resources to PRA. Can be very expensive. Records of the board are included. Anything that has to do with your service on the board is included. Board communications are public records. Penalities can be significant. WSRMP doesn't cover Public Records Act violations.

Criminal conduct is the most serious issue, you can be named in an official capacity. You can't lose your personal assets but could affect ability to get a mortgage, etc. Some press will be bad press. Certain agencies tend to cover districts in a dire way. He recommended you have a communications strategy. Be very careful about the statements you make. Maintaining open honesty, but you can respond, "we are looking into it". Give few details so you don't have to walk it back at a later time.

Allowing public forums cuts both ways. You could have 4,000 people commenting in a negative fashion and you realize you have created something that you can't regulate.
School districts are different public entities than a lot of other agencies. You cannot be mean. You have to act as a teacher to kids is expected to act. You can't get angry. It is about public confidence. Families live in your community for an extended period of time.

Being a school district is getting more expensive. Costs are going up. Increased risks are driving this. Legal risk, increased costs, limited funding. The state of Washington is not like some other states that can shield districts, or don't have unions. We have Basic Education requirements in Washington, and legislative requirements. McCleary decision. Requirements are increasing. If districts do not comply, can lose funding. You have no choice.
  President Romero asked how much of national issues get into Washington State or how does Washington avoid some of the things happening in other states? WA is so unique compared to what happens nationally. We have no caps on exposure and liability. We are a progressive state with OSPI governance. The districts are left to their own devices subject to state requirements. There is some state-level activism. He hasn't seen any indications of that locally in terms of district requirements. It is surprising because we have basic ed in the state of Washington, and you have core curriculum requirements. Booster Clubs, drama, cheer, band, arts in schools, etc., are not specific to basic ed. Reading, writing and math are basic ed. 

Staff will sometimes let you down. He discussed the importance of staff management and student supervision. The system is hard - it is hard running a school district. Anyone can have weak employees at any level. Everyone is human, everyone has a weak moment and staff are not flawless. Some staff are really motivated in their jobs and some aren't. There are staff training requirements since they are the point of service for students. Keep schools and staff on task, make expectations known and clear. From a training standpoint, you have to do it and it also helps.

Professional Boundaries, Bullying (HIB) have some interface with students that is beyond an educational purpose. He discussed professional boundaries, inappropriate touch and grooming behaviors. Biggest thing every educator needs to do is stay in their lane. They should refer students to school counselors. It is not their job to be that student's advocate. Kids are growing up at school and staff need to be supportive within their role but not participate to a greater degree. We have transgender laws in the state of Washington: you don't have a choice, it is laid out: HIB law in the state of WA, you have to understand staff want to be a supportive educator but understand that you have to draw the line and involve someone else. He has seen cases where teachers interject themselves into relationships with students and meet outside of school for coffee, put themselves in a parental role but there is risk associated with that. Not just teachers, but all staff. It is not easy to resolve employment relationships. You don't want a principal or admin to be surprised by that. 

Deborah Callahan said from a coverage standpoint, in her career at the risk pool she has seen teachers have religious relationships with students that parents become aware of and file suit, relationships dealing with students helping or not helping students with sexual orientation details about themselves. There is district coverage, but no coverage for the individual teacher because districts have responsibilities. Charles Leitch added that when you run into some of the issues of the dynamic where students are influenced by a staff member, that is a different animal, such as religious, sexual, etc. More and more now we look at now and there is a limit. This is an area that ebbs and flows. It all depends on the person who is involved and at what level. The board is at the high level. Navigating political issues is a process. Degrees are based on case-by-case. What lawsuit do you want to buy? More pastoral approaches in supervision and communication with parents. There were some additional comments made by President Romero and discussion by the board and presenters.

Deborah Callahan discussed preventative loss measures. At a certain age state law establishes that students are able to make some decisions for themselves. There are some things that are decided for parents. 

Charles Leitch discussed outside resources for mental health, students of certain age have the right to confidentiality. You don't have to share info with parents unless the child gives permission. Resources make student supervision unpredictable. We have mandatory reporting - if you think there is abuse or neglect, you have to act. Neglect is more difficult to determine.
  There is no way you can create a perfect environment in a building with 1,000 students. There are no caps on liability and you can't always control what can happen. Transportation, bathrooms, field trips, and aff-hours access. Parents going along is different from chaperones on a field trip. Districts are allowing fewer overnight field trips because of the lack of 24-hour supervision. Many claims have to do with those four above and continue to exist from a risk profile. Student behavior is not always predictable or controllable.
  Notice fracture - need a system, training, need to put together the entire picture to see the trend of a student being treated a certain way. Students can get hurt at school. Obligation to the district if a student passes away at school or outside of school: crisis communications and support are the priority. Have to be prepared to build confidence and support concerns. Safety is the highest duty. You are not infallible, but it is your highest duty. Something may not seem like the district did anything wrong but the perception is something occurring at school and what happened to cause this. Pre-loss program, Legal advice helps you. The superintendent is the best person in his position. Stay positive what you are doing is very important and has an impact on so many students.
  President Romero remarked even though an example of a teacher was used, policies are written toward all staff, and sometimes there are differences between certificated vs. classified staff.

Deborah Callahan said we will be talking about liability training for the school board. The WSRMP exists because things go wrong. Having coverage is to protect you.

(01:07:44) At 10:08 a.m., President Romero called for a short recess. 
(01:13:29) President Romero reconvened the meeting at 10:14 a.m.

Deborah Callahan provided an overview of what she'll present today and explained what the WSRMP does. They are not insurance; they are a public entity financed by member districts and the ESD. Governed by their members. The board consists of former superintendents.
  The state of California has 200 pools and is the largest state in the nation. Washington is second with 16. The rest of the nation has 1-4 pools. She explained the difference between insurance and risk management. We do this so school districts are safe and students can get their education. She described a brochure and what they offer.
Costs of premiums continues to go up due to weather events, global and domestic losses, wildfires, hail, etc. WSRMP covers part of your insurance claims. Her goal is to find a way to insulate WSRMP from insurance companies' increases. Casualty insurers are losing money; claim values have been going up; liability is expanded every year. She displayed a Claims Payments slide showing the progression of increases. There has been a systematic increase in the balance of claims and a dramatic rise in the cost of insurance. Insurance rates are rising for your personal auto and home insurance as well.

She said there are regulations as to how much they can charge so these are under each insurance commissioner. WSRMP isn't regulated. Her job is to give districts' money back to them.
WSRMP Member Districts' Contributions: same trend of increase as reinsurance. They are moving to London syndicates instead of US insurance carriers.

Sex abuse and molestation (SAM) are the number one claims. SAM Claims are driving up costs. Acts range from grooming to full on act of abuse. This is the claim we have to stop. These losses drive up the rates. Do a SAM audit for every school and look at all practices at school to reduce these claims. Behind every claim is a student whose life is altered in a bad way. Her goal is that no students are harmed. She discussed SAM Payment and Claim Trends - they have made significant strides in reducing claims due to education, huge investments in online learning, number of claims are lower but cost of claims are higher.

She discussed board member liability in the course and scope of their board charge. If you step outside of your board charge you will not be covered. Spouses are covered, usually takes about 60 days to get a spouse out of a lawsuit. Plaintiff's attorney does it just to create chaos. Who is not covered? Students, as they are members of the public. We do have medical coverage for kids including on the bus and playground. Employees who step outside of their charge aren't covered. If you hit or molest someone, you are not covered, because that is a criminal act. PRA damages on violations of the PRA, penalities and fines - actually a punishment thing. State of WA doesn't allow an insurance carrier or pool to cover PRA (Probabilistic Risk Assessment) damages. President Romero asked how often she has seen individual board members be subject to lawsuits. She replied twice. Most boards do work hard to not be in that position.

Charles Leitch discussed Public Records Requests (PRRs). In some cases it was found out a board had records after they said they didn't have any. That subjects the district to exposure. They are seeing a lot more PRA litigation. He is seeing more PRA lawsuits now than in the past. Lot of activities out there weaponing the PRA. Try to get records involving board members. Be careful when searching your records. As members of WSSDA we have collaboration with members across the state. Some have district-owned cell phones. Puyallup does not. 

Is there a different in requirements from a personal device and a district-owned device? No difference recognized by WSRMP. They recommends you have a PRA attorney, be aware of redaction laws, etc. President Romero asked what risk they run using their personal device - what is searchable? Only the items on your phone in relation to your service on the board. Not your family texts or work information. You select and share it yourself. You don't need to disclose anything personal not related to your service on the board.
  Deborah Callahan provided case examples of board members that were named in lawsuits in the past. 
  Dr. Polm said in the interest of time, we won't go over Communications document today.
  There was additional discussion by the board. Deborah discussed that the insurance market is cyclical. Nothing is happening now is normal so she would say we are in a new normal. We are experiencing a prolonged hard market. Usually, we see softening, which means insurance is easy to get, there is capacity and costs are cheaper. It goes up and down. What is different now is she isn't seeing softening of any kind, so we have to look at different ways to counteract that. How do we keep our money here, working for kids? She doesn't see a change this year and can't give a timeline. It is unknown.

We have damages at one of our schools right now, and we will confer with them to determine how much the risk pool can provide to cover those damages. Dr. Polm added there are costs related to that event, there is a process, there is a rep we work with. It is not like we can rebuild the school, repairs only have to be related to the water intrusion. Anything we do to improve at the same time is on us and could be related to the capital levy. Teachers' personal property that has no relation to providing education, like their painting on the wall, isn't covered. Losses are counterbalanced because you have a reduction in risk. It was asked if we don't have funds to take care of our maintainence projects, are we still covered if we run into a problem if the money has run out for repairs on old equipment or buildings? Deborah replied if you have failed to maintain something, then it is not covered. If it hasn't been maintained appropriately, they can deny the claim. If it was built improperly by the contractor that built it, they can help. She said at least as long as she is the executive director with WSRMP, her philosophy is to find ways to provide even more help to school districts as things get tighter. No insurance commissioner is telling her that she has to make a profit, so she's going to get a skinny as she can in order to help school districts.

At this time, Dr. Polm reminded the board to sign up for the student representative meetings and graduation ceremonies on the sheets provided. 
  3. Closing
A. Board of Directors - Closing Comments (02:00:15)
Director Names thanked both for their presentations. Deborah Callahan reiterated that her goal is to continue providing not-for-profit services and they are here to help districts. In order to conclude the meeting on time, President Romero ended board comments.
  B. Adjournment (02:01:01)
President Romero adjourned the meeting at 11:01 a.m.
        _______________________________________         _____________________________________
Dr. John Polm, Superintendent                                    Mr. Joseph Romero, Board President