Nevada CSD renews EMC insurance package, adds three optional coverages
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Summary
The Nevada Community School District approved a $528,359.41 EMC insurance renewal and opted to add three optional coverages after a presentation from Melissa Johnson of Midwest Insurance detailing rising property and liability costs and options for higher cyber, pollution and off‑premises limits.
The Nevada Community School District Board on June 16 approved renewal of its EMC insurance program with a total annual premium of $528,359.41 and authorized three optional coverages recommended by the district’s broker.
Melissa Johnson of Midwest Insurance presented the district’s annual insurance summary and answered board members’ questions. Johnson said the district insures about $120,000,000 in property and faced a 15% rate increase this year; she described growing wind and hail losses statewide as the primary driver of higher property rates. She told the board the policy keeps a $25,000 deductible for most per‑occurrence losses but that wind and hail deductibles on certain buildings are structured as 1% of value, which can raise the district’s effective exposure to about $1,100,000 if multiple major buildings are damaged in a single event.
The board heard that workers’ compensation experience is elevating costs: the district’s experience modification factor rose from 1.12 to 1.13. Johnson said the district previously moved work comp carriers and had a period of nonrenewal with one vendor before obtaining coverage from Dakota Truck, which offered renewal at nearly the same rate as last year. Johnson also reviewed specific program changes: glass claims now have a $500 deductible (chips still repaired free), buses older than 10 years are insured at actual cash value rather than replacement cost, and several buses were reclassified to a shorter rating period.
Board members asked about optional coverages Johnson recommended. The board added the following options to the renewal: (1) raise the property off‑premises / in‑transit limit (quoted up to $500,000; the optional quote shown was $350 per year to increase the available limit), (2) purchase $1,000,000 in increased pollution liability coverage ($156 per year quoted), and (3) raise cyber liability from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 (Johnson said the additional $1,000,000 would cost roughly $4,400). Johnson described the cyber option in light of recent attacks on larger Iowa districts and said Nevada’s protections made it eligible for higher limits.
When asked how the district’s exposures might be reduced, Johnson suggested loss‑control engagement through the carrier (for example, Dakota Truck’s loss‑control services) and training for staff in areas that generate slip, trip and fall claims, which she said were the most common sources of recent workers’ compensation losses. Board members discussed the tradeoff between higher premiums and program changes such as deductible buy‑downs; Johnson reminded the board that a buy‑down that reduced a 1% wind/hail deductible to $50,000 or $100,000 had been presented previously at a substantially higher cost and was not adopted.
After questions, the board moved and seconded approval of the renewal as presented with the three optional quotes Johnson recommended. The motion carried.
The board directed staff to proceed with the renewal and optional coverages as approved and to continue working with the broker and carriers on loss control and long‑term cost management.
