What’s in a Game? A school district risk manager’s Saturday morning phone calls
by Paul Taylor
With the start of the Fall semester, most Texas school districts play their part in the Friday night spectacular known as Texas high school football. And while school district risk managers enjoy the game as much as anyone, the real risk management questions may come from a Saturday morning phone call. This article addresses five common scenarios that can generate Saturday morning phone calls to school district risk managers.
1. On the way to an out-of-town game, your district’s band bus side swipes a parked car, leaving a definite yellow streak down the length of the vehicle. No one is injured, but the car’s owner is hopping mad and there is no denying the cause of the damage. Who pays for the damage?
In order to answer this question, the risk manager needs to understand the district’s automobile liability coverage. Because the damage was caused by the school driver’s negligence while operating the bus for district purposes, it is very likely that your coverage will include the damages to the car and even to your bus. The risk manager should contact your coverage provider to file a claim.
2. Your district’s elementary P.E. coach is a huge football fan and attends every home football game because he loves to see his former students play. During halftime, after his visit to the field house for a pep talk, the coach slips on a discarded frito pie package and throws out his back. Is the district liable for his bothersome back problem?
Because the coach was attending the football game in his private capacity, and not because it was part of his job duties, the coach’s injuries will likely not be covered by Worker’s Compensation. The coach’s personal health insurance would be the place to turn for medical coverage of these injuries.
However, what if this had been the High School Principal who slipped while attending the game and the principal’s job duties require that he attend all home football games? In this case, the district’s workers compensation coverage would likely cover treatment of the principal’s injuries as they were caused by an on the job injury.
Apart from the worker’s compensation issue, the coach could also potentially raise a premises liability claim against the district for his slip on the sack. While this could be a claim under the district’s general liability policy, the district could assert their legal immunities to bodily injury damages and likely not be required to cover the injuries.
3. After the game, two fans in a rush to get the prime spot at Sonic have a fender bender in the school parking lot. They want the district to pay for the damages claiming that there was inadequate lighting in the parking lot. Does the district have to pay to repair the vehicles?
In this situation the risk manager would again refer to the district’s General Liability policy to see if these claims for property damage were covered. Generally, the district’s immunities to these types of property damage claims would apply and therefore the district would not have any liability to pay the claim or provide coverage for the claim. The damages would be the responsibility of the vehicle drivers who could file claims with their own insurance carriers.
4. Your football team completely trounced the cross town rival causing a small number of the opposing fans to return later that night with spray paint and a dictionary. Who pays to clean up the mess?
The risk manager would look to the district’s vandalism coverage, likely found as part of the Property coverage. Then depending on the extent of the direct physical loss, the district could elect to file a claim or simply remove the spray paint using school facility employees. If there is extensive damage, an independent adjuster might be assigned to estimate the payment cost of cleanup and repairs. On a related issue, if the offending artists are found guilty of a crime, your district’s provider may seek restitution from them for the cleanup costs.
5. Late in the third quarter your star defensive back makes a flying tackle, taking out the opposing receiver and his own collarbone. The family does not have health insurance and the ambulance bill and hospital visits will be expensive. Will the district’s coverage pay the medical expenses?
In this situation, there may be coverage for the student’s injuries if the district purchased insurance to cover injuries to students engaged in athletic activities as allowed by Texas Education Code Section 33.085. This type of insurance is optional and may not have been purchased by the district. The district’s own General Liability coverage would probably not apply in this situation as again, the district’s immunities would protect the district from liability for this type of occurrence.
These scenarios and the responses are generally based on standard types of available coverage. Each district’s risk manager should understand the specific merits of any claim, the coverage held by his or her district, and be ready to receive the handoff and run with the ball when the phone rings on Saturday morning.
