Update: Student Accident Insurance Extended Through July

The president of the said earlier this week that a special meeting may be necessary if the school district wants to have a broker of record and, more importantly, student accident insurance for the 2012-2013 school year, after the board failed to pass a pair of finance resolutions at its meeting Tuesday.

But business administrator Cheryl Balletto said that when the board did not renew the student accident insurance, she called the district’s broker and got it extended through July 31.

“I confirmed it this morning with [the broker], and it is extended through July 31,” Balletto told Patch Friday.

In order for the insurance to be extended beyond July 31, it will have to be approved by the board.

“I’m hoping that on July 9 the board will approve our new policy,” Balletto said.

Appointment of BGIA as broker of record for 2012-2013 at a fee of $110,000 and student accident insurance with Bollinger, which would have come at a cost of $52,207 for the 2012-2013 school year were on the agenda, but the issue wasn’t necessarily the cost to the district for three board members, one of whom voted no and two of whom abstained. Two board members were also not in attendance at at .

“They voted no because people raised the question ‘Was it bid out?’” said school board president Arthur Levine the day after the meeting. “They voted no simply because of the public.”

He added, “An abstention is not a vote so it’s not a majority.”

Earlier in the meeting Fort Lee resident David Sarnoff did indeed raise such a question, asking if the appointment of a broker of record had been put out to bid.

“If all the employees are in the state plan, are there other options to broker the insurance?” Sarnoff asked. “Could we share services with other school districts if everybody’s in the state plan? Because it doesn’t seem like it would be that complicated.”

Business Administrator Cheryl Balletto explained that there are specific companies that typically work with schools, doing things like handling benefits, acting as brokers for property insurance, and so on.

“Yes, we can go out for [bids], but we also have to do it in a timely fashion,” Balletto said.

Sarnoff, who accepted Balletto’s explanation, later said he was only asking about the appointment of BGIA as broker of record.

But the board voted the two finance resolutions together—BGIA and Bollinger for student accident insurance—and therefore passed neither.

When it became apparent that the resolutions might fail because of abstentions and the one “no” vote, Balletto warned the board, “You won’t have a broker of record, and you won’t have student accident insurance.”

Board vice president Linda McCue said at Tuesday’s meeting that she didn’t understand what the problem was, and that the issue should have been raised in the private session that preceded the public discussion and ultimately the vote.

“All of a sudden it’s an issue, and everyone’s abstaining or voting no,” McCue said. “Why wasn’t this brought up?”

Speaking Wednesday morning, Levine echoed McCue’s sentiments.

“These questions should be brought up in private session,” Levine said. “And it wasn’t raised; nobody raised it.”

He added, “We get the agenda a little before the public does, the agenda’s put out and if you have any question, raise it.”

He said such contracts are thoroughly vetted by Balletto, and that the premiums haven’t gone up in two years.

As for the ramifications of not passing the resolution providing student accident insurance, Levine said it meant at the time that as of July 1, there would be none, and that he might have to call a special meeting specifically to vote on the matter again.

Until that happens, Levine said, “I’m not going to allow camp.”

“We can’t allow any children in the camps on our grounds,” he said. “We’re not a rubber stamp for Cheryl, but trust me, if there is an issue with any of those contracts, it’s discussed.”

However, given Balletto's update, that will not be necessary, at least for now.

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