Insurance issue on tap for Wiscasset School Committee

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 4:30pm

The current insurer of the Wiscasset Primary School building plans to automatically renew coverage, according to Interim Superintendent of Schools Lyford Beverage. However, that information may raise further questions for the school committee to consider, including ownership of the building that is slated to close.

“It remains uncertain to me if the ownership of the building becomes an issue with the insurance carrier,” Beverage writes in a Tuesday, May 26 email response to questions from the Wiscasset Newspaper.

Wiscasset’s June 9 municipal ballot asks if the town will accept the building from the school panel and authorize selectmen to sell it.

Questions involving the building’s condition and the town’s ability to get the building insured came up at a May 19 selectmen’s meeting. An April 23 inspection found water-damaged ceiling tiles and possible other indicators of a roof problem, according to a May 4 letter from Maine Municipal Association Risk Management Services to Town Manager Marian Anderson. As a result, the town could get liability insurance, but not other insurance on the property, Anderson said.

Beverage states in his superintendent’s report released May 21 that Administrative Assistant Stacey Souza has contacted Maine School Management Association (MSMA), which currently provides the insurance on the building. “Stacey ... received that our renewal is automatic so that coverage on the building will not lapse. This is a situation that should be discussed by the School Committee.

In his separate, agenda notes for the committee’s next meeting on May 28, Beverage states the MSMA will renew the insurance automatically “unless we cancel. This solution also brings questions about ownership, control (and) premium payments ... The committee should discuss to gain good understanding of the issues.”

Also on tap Thursday, the committee will hear from Wiscasset High School technology coordinator Deb Pooler about a drone project; and consider changing physical education teacher Daniela Marino’s position from half-time to full-time, serving kindergarten through sixth grade.

A 6 p.m. reception for retiring staff will precede the start of Thursday’s meeting. Both the reception and the meeting will take place in the Wiscasset High School library.