EMC Insurance reportedly has threatened loss of property and casualty insurance to Cherokee Community School District because it expects to train and arm staff members with firearms in the coming school year.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition reported in a February blog post that the Cherokee and Spirit Lake school districts were “threatened with loss of insurance coverage,” because both announced it would train and arm staffers.
“IFC notes that the Spirit Lake and Cherokee school districts have already been threatened with loss of insurance coverage since announcing last year their intent to train and arm staff members,” reads the blog post by IFC staff writer Michael Ware.
The coalition did not respond to a request for comment on how it learned that Cherokee and Spirit Lake were facing a possible loss of coverage.
Cherokee Supt. Kim Lingenfelter did not respond to requests for comment on the blog post. Cherokee School Board President Jodi Thomas said she was not familiar with the post, which is an explanation of omnibus firearms legislation that prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to schools on the sole basis that a district chooses to arm staff.
The bill, known as House File 654, passed the Iowa House of Representatives earlier this month but stalled in the Senate because the insurance provision “has become a serious stumbling block,” according to Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, who voted for the bill.
“It may cause the entire bill to fail,” Jones said of the requirement barring insurance companies from denying coverage to the likes of Cherokee and Spirit Lake. Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, believes the legislation could pass the Republican-controlled Senate “if it gets to the floor.”
Cherokee is relying on the legislation to pass both chambers and be signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds.
In a statement last week, Thomas said the House passed HF 654 but did not mention the legislation’s fate in the Senate. Board member Ray Mullins asserted that the Cherokee district’s insurance coverage was safe for the current and upcoming year. Mullins declined to comment on IFC’s statement.
“As of today, Cherokee School District’s coverage through EMC Insurance is in force. There has not been an official notification of cancellation regarding Cherokee School District coverage for 2022 to 2023 or 2023 to 2024,” Mullins said in a prepared statement. “The budget is healthy and the board’s plan is to protect our most precious assets: students and staff.”
EMC did not respond to requests for comment on Cherokee’s insurance standing. The school district has publicly asserted its insurance will be safe. The IFC and Jones have claimed otherwise.
A coalition of Cherokee stakeholders who oppose the district’s firearms policy claims the district cannot find an insurer willing to take on the risk of underwriting a policy in which Cherokee would allow up to 45 staff members to carry firearms on school grounds next year. Even if it could, the coalition claims arming each staff member will cost $10,000 annually per person, roughly the same amount as professional malpractice insurance.
⇒ PREVIOUSLY: Coalition asks school board to holster its gun program
The Cherokee Chronicle Times has requested email correspondence between district officials and EMC representatives on insurance-related discussions stemming from Cherokee’s weapons policy, which was formally adopted in October. The school board’s attorney, Steve Avery of Spencer, declined to release the correspondence. He said doing so would jeopardize EMC’s competitive standing.
Avery also claimed he could not find any communications between district officials and the insurance representatives.
“I personally reviewed the production (of the emails) and did not locate any correspondence concerning insurance,” Avery wrote via email on Monday.
The stance has sparked the interest of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which has demanded that the Cherokee district produce all insurance-related correspondence between the district and its insurance representatives. IFOIC Executive Director Randy Evans said the council is reviewing its options to obtain any possible insurance-related correspondence.
“We believe anything related to the element of cost to the district is a public record and the district ought to treat it as such,” Evans said on Monday.
Lingenfelter and school board members indeed met with EMC representatives on multiple occasions this spring to discuss the matter, according to emails obtained by the Chronicle Times through an open-records request. A review of around 4,000 pages of correspondence and other documents shows district representatives and board members could not easily discern its insurance standing.
An email Lingenfelter sent the board on Dec. 11, 2022 says board members met with unnamed EMC representatives earlier in the month. Lingenfelter said EMC representatives were aware of the district’s weapons policy and confirmed that Cherokee would not be dropped in the current year.
As for the upcoming year, EMC was “still processing their approach to the change in Iowa law,” Lingenfelter’s email reads.
In March, Lingenfelter had a meeting with Thomas and school board Vice President Angie Anderson on the same insurance issue, emails show. They discussed EMC representatives’ “gut feelings with regard to future coverage,” according to Lingenfelter, but contained no promises on whether the district would be insured for the 2023-24 school year.
When presented with the Iowa Firearms Coalition’s claims, school board member Mullins told a Chronicle Times reporter not contact him through a personal cellphone and to instead do so through a district email. Mullins then did not respond to a request for comment that was sent to his school email address before press time.
Thomas deferred additional comment to the attorney Avery, who said he had “no information about IFC.”
Other school districts have balked at Cherokee’s weapons policy due to insurance uncertainties, according to a review of the emails.
Superintendents at the Westwood-Sloan and Woodbine school districts expressed some interest to Lingenfelter about a similar policy, but neither district followed through to the extent Cherokee did.
Westwood Supt. Jay Lutt told Lingenfelter in January that the Westwood School Board “would like to begin discussing arming certain staff at school.” Lingenfelter encouraged Lutt to attend a series of presentations by Ed Monk, a pro-gun advocate invited to Cherokee and Spirit Lake to explain how arming school teachers would allegedly limit carnage in a mass-shooter scenario.
Lutt declined, citing a superintendent conference, emails show. He then asked Lingenfelter whether Monk is training district staff, pending EMC permission.
Lingenfelter did not reply back, according to the emails.
Westwood abandoned the idea of arming a small number of its staff. The board there instead opted to explore a school resource officer program with the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office.
Lutt cited a “certain denial” of the school district’s coverage should it have pursued plans to arm staff members. EMC is the district’s insurance provider.
“Our insurance company isn’t on board with doing that,” Lutt said when describing the company’s response to arming staff. “We’re still investigating. Insurance is a factor. Finding someone that’s willing to insure you is a big part of getting through.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here