District broker briefs board on PACE coverage, warns members to stay within 'course and scope'

Brown and Brown Insurance broker Marcus Spitz told the Crook County School District board during a work session that the district—s PACE insurance pool gives local districts unusually broad liability protection but that coverage depends on whether board members act within the board—s "course and scope."

Spitz said PACE is a statewide Oregon school-entity pool that "provides a very robust amount of coverage, dollars 20,000,000 worth of coverage," and that the organization emphasizes training and collaborative claim handling rather than adversarial coverage fights. He added that statutory tort caps and the policy—s language determine what the carrier will defend.

"The coverage is intended to cover you for torts, wrongful acts against another entity or individual," Spitz said, noting that whether an act is covered turns on whether a board member owed a duty, breached that duty and caused provable damages. He urged board members to act in quorum and to designate spokespeople to keep public communications consistent so coverage questions are less likely to arise.

Board members asked whether PACE covers accidents or statements made while a member is traveling or speaking to the media. Spitz said personal auto policies are generally primary for collisions and that PACE typically functions as excess coverage when the board has formally authorized travel or attendance. On media contacts, he advised appointing an authorized spokesperson: "The cleanest and easiest way is to embrace it entirely and say, OK, this is our topic. We have an individual that's going to be our spokesperson."

Spitz also described a sublimit for ethics complaints: legal defense reimbursement is available "up to $25,000 per official" and $25,000 per coverage year for the district; fines are not covered. He urged deliberate recordkeeping, policies that make positions clear and early consultation with PACE legal or the broker if a complaint arises.

The board thanked Spitz for the briefing and said they would take follow-up training and policy review into the policy committee.

The work session then moved to a separate OSBA-led governance training; the meeting adjourned after that presentation.