Policy revisions make private transportation of RC students more feasible

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

Two administrative policy revisions approved at Monday?s meeting of the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education will open more avenues for students to be transported by private vehicle. The first recommendation from superintendent Dan Byrne was to change the amount of liability coverage required to transport students from $1,000,000 to not less than $300,000. The other modification was to broaden the scope of individuals administrators could approve to transport the students. The recommendation from Byrne was to delete ?a staff member? from the policy and in its place add, ?an employee of this board, an approved volunteer, and/or the parent of a student enrolled in this district.?

The modifications will save the district the cost of sending a bus with a limited amount of students and still follow school policy. There have been occasions when only a handful of students were being transported by a school bus.

?I THINK THE biggest impact will be to allow us to utilize our staff members, volunteers, and parents to transport our students, which ultimately would be a financial savings to us,? said Byrne. Administrators had been approached by many staff members about transporting students to educational functions and sporting events, but the administrative guidelines required vehicles to be insured for liability in the amount of $1,000,000. ?However, many vehicles do not carry this amount of coverage,? said Byrne. ?In order to allow private vehicles to be used and follow guidelines, I?m recommending the amount of liability coverage to read

?not less than $300,000.? To better match what our drivers probably carry.? Individuals transporting students would have to verify they have the proper insurance when signing a release form.

?In the real world today, $300,000 worth of liability is not a lot of liability insurance,? said board member Armand Loiselle. ?It is wise, considering all of the opportunities people have to sue you — trip and fall; dog bites it could be anything, really — you can get to $300,000 in a hurry. ?It is wise to carry an umbrella policy for $1,000,000.? He said, ?The additional coverage would cost next to nothing.?

?In the real world,? board member Allan Smolinski said, ?it is hard to get volunteers to drive kids around. It is a good idea to drop it down.? In consulting with the district?s insurance carrier, Byrne said their recommendation was that it be a minimum of $300,000 to $500,000. The two changes received unanimous support.

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