×
×
homepage logo

School district selects bid for workers compensation

By Lisa Scheller - | Jun 12, 2002

Monday night, school board members faced a decision whether to accept a bid from a local insurance carrier for workers’ compensation insurance, or to accept a lower bid offered by the Kansas Association of School Boards.

Superintendent Richard Erickson offered some advice.

“We could put the $8,000 to other uses other than paying for insurance,” Erickson said. “I recommend we go to KASB.”

After a lengthy discussion, board members voted 5-0 to accept KASB’s bid.

When the bids were opened in May, board members encountered an unexpected snag the two bidders had calculated bids using different experience modification rates, called “mod” factors.

Evans’ $54,578 bid was based on a mod factor of 1.29, and KASB’s $46,811 bid was based on a mod factor of 1.19. Because of the discrepancy, board members decided to let the carriers resubmit bids.

But again, the bids came back based on different ratings.

Liz Maisberger-Clark, KASB, told board members the correct mod factor, based on the district’s three-year average rating, is 1.19. She had contacted J.W. Evans about using the same rate.

“I called Mr. Evans three times and he was unable to get the bid of 1.19,” Maisberger-Clark said. “He was bound by whatever they wanted to bid.”

Evans’ carrier is Employers’ Mutual, she said.

“EMC just did not want to come back and re-bid,” Maisberger-Clark said. “It wasn’t Mr. Evans’ choice he had gone back to the company and requested it at 1.19 and they did not want to do that.”

Evans was unavailable for comment Tuesday morning.