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Board hears new insurance plan, cyber coverage expanded after market changes
Summary
District insurance broker and the chief financial officer told trustees the district's property, liability and cyber insurance is moving to new carriers after a non‑renewal; the district will get higher cyber ransom limits and access to an insurer portal with prevention resources, but at a higher premium.
Trustees of the Lakeland School District were briefed Tuesday on a new property, liability and cyber insurance program that moves the district from its prior provider after that carrier declined to renew the policy.
Wharton & Company representatives and the district’s chief financial officer described a marketwide effort to find new underwriters and said the new program expands cyber incident protections while increasing the district’s near‑term premium costs.
“The cost’s higher than your expiring premium,” a Wharton representative said during the presentation, adding that the firm “exhaustively approached the marketplace to find the very best pricing.” The district’s Jessica Grantham, chief financial officer, attended the discussion and answered board questions about details and budget implications.
Why it matters: school districts nationwide are being targeted by cyberattacks that can lock networks and demand ransom. Trustees were told the district’s prior program capped ransom payments at $50,000; the new primary cyber policy raises the specific cyber extortion sublimit and offers greater first‑party and third‑party coverage.
Key details presented to the board: - The prior program limited cyber extortion payments to $50,000; the new program has a dedicated sublimit for ransom payments up to $500,000 for those situations, and a $1,000,000 per‑occurrence cyber limit was described for other cyber liabilities. - The district’s new cyber partner is connected to AXA’s cyber program; trustees were told members will be able to access an online portal with loss‑prevention resources, vetted incident response vendors and employee training materials. - The broker said actuarial work and a 10‑year loss history were supplied to the new carriers to support longer‑term pricing stability, but acknowledged a higher cost for the coming year. - The broker stressed that improved controls (multi‑factor authentication, endpoint detection and response, off‑site backups) will help lower future premiums.
Discussion and direction: trustees pressed for clarity about what the policy will cover in ransom scenarios and for practical steps the district can take to reduce future insurance costs. The broker said the online portal and vendor lists will help districts respond quickly to incidents and recommended continued work on technical controls and backups.
What’s next: no formal vote on the insurance packet was recorded at the meeting; board members were given the executive summary and invited to ask questions of the broker and district finance staff as the district finalizes carrier placement.
