Covington board adopts statement refusing to pay disputed portion of Southwest Park due-process fees

The Covington Community School Corp board unanimously approved a statement of position declining to pay a disputed share of legal fees in a due-process case for a Southwest Park School special-needs student.

At the meeting an administrator, explaining the board’s proposed resolution, said the student’s insurer has offered to pay 50% of the attorney fees and related costs, and has asserted the special-education cooperative’s insurance should cover the remaining 50%. The administrator told the board the cooperative’s insurer has refused, arguing the cooperative was not named in the suit.

“We are just literally the local education agency,” the administrator said, describing why the district believes it should not be held financially responsible for the other half of the fees. “So basically what this is is just us saying that we’re not going to pay anything towards their suit.”

Board members voted to adopt the statement of position after the administrator’s explanation; the meeting record does not provide a roll-call tally, and board members did not name a specific dollar amount for the disputed fees during discussion.

Board members and staff characterized the dispute as arising from differing insurer positions: one insurer offering partial payment, and the other asserting it has no obligation because the cooperative is not a named party in the litigation. The administrator said the district’s attorney has advised that the district likely would not be liable for the costs.

The board took no further action beyond adopting the statement of position. The resolution signals the district will not voluntarily assume the co-op’s disputed share of fees while insurers and counsel continue to sort liability questions.

The board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for April 13; no follow-up report date for this matter was announced at the meeting.