Trustees examine legal fees

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:18 PM PST ∞

TEMECULA ---- The school district has spent about $2.87 million on liability claims, lawsuits and settlements since July 2002, according to a report released by the district this week.

That figure does not include the average $500,000 spent annually on liability insurance by the district, insurance that pays for any damages the district faces over $5,000.

The report was done at the behest of Temecula Valley Unified School District trustees, who said they wanted to examine legal expenses because it's important to keep track of such matters.

But the analysis also comes in the wake of the trustees dealing with cash-strapped budgets and some community members who have said the district is too eager to fight legal battles.

"They are wasting money they say they don't have," said Temecula special education advocate Helen Robinson. She was one of a handful of community members who attended a presentation of the report by district officials Tuesday.

In the presentation, district officials cited the school district as having the second lowest insurance rate of the Riverside Schools Insurance Coalition, consisting of 18 school districts in Riverside County and Palo Verde Community College.

Assistant Superintendent Jeff Okun said the low figure compared to the other districts is proof Temecula Valley must be doing something right when it comes to legal matters.

District spokeswoman Danielle Clark likened the situation to car insurance, saying the more accidents one gets into, the more one pays to auto insurance companies.

"You can't have high damages and low rates," she said.

Still, there is a difference between what the district is paying for liability insurance, and what it has paid in fighting special education lawsuits because liability insurance does not cover special education issues, Robinson said.

Since July 2002, the district has spent about $2.87 million from its general fund, which covers items such as salaries and supplies, on legal expenses, according to the district's analysis. Of that amount, $2.47 million was spent on legal matters, including settlements, involving special education issues, district officials said.

For example, the district paid one mother last year $82,500 after a state hearing found the district failed to provide an adequate education for her disabled daughter.

In comparison to the district's special education legal costs, the district's overall general fund budget amounts to about $650 million in the last four years, and $2.47 million represents less than one percent of that, district officials said.

But some still say that's too much.

"When they are only giving $75 a year for supplies to teachers, every penny counts," Robinson said, adding that school district officials need to work with and not fight against special education issues that surface.

As for legal liability issues not related to special education in the last six years, only $46,000 was spent paying claims, such as personal injuries, according to the report.

The district has not had to pay large damages on liability claims such as a $75,000 defamation case decided against it in 2004, because its annual $500,000 liability insurance covered the cost.

Since 1999, 82 liability claims have been filed against the district: nine relating to construction issues; 33 dealing with property or vehicle damage; 31 personal injury claims; seven employment-related claims; and two miscellaneous cases, district documents state.

Of those, 32 were settled and paid either by the district or the insurance coalition, with a net cost to the district of $46,178, an average of $1,400 per case.

The remaining claims have been resolved without financial effects, are still in litigation, denied in favor of the district, dismissed by the courts, or closed because the claimant never filed a lawsuit.

Trustees, after being presented with the data, asked district administrators if any comparisons were done to contrast Temecula Valley's legal costs with that of other districts of comparable size. District officials said that would be a burdensome assignment, but that they would do so and present it in the spring when budget planning for the next fiscal year tends to begin.

"The total legal expenditures are less than 1 percent of our budget," said Trustee Rick Shafer, adding that such a measure is one way of comparing whether one district is more litigious than another.

Okun said that compared to the district he used to work at, Temecula's costs are "really low."

Board President Barbara Tooker said it's a comfort to know the district's insurance rates are down and legal fees are down over time, which is part of what the data presented showed.

"It shows our staff is on top of things," she said.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.

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