July 14, 2023

LITTLE ROCK – The governor announced that the state would provide about $11 million to local school districts to help them pay the steeply rising costs of property insurance premiums.

In her announcement, the governor said premiums are going up for schools by an average of 130 percent, and the state aid would help them pay for about 30 percent of the increase.

The Legislative Council will consider the governor’s proposal, which was developed with input from lawmakers over the past several weeks.

An insurance plan purchased by the Arkansas School Boards Association covers 179 districts and a plan purchased by the state Insurance Department covers 78 districts, according to news reports.

Part of the dramatic increase in premiums is attributed to the cost of repairing damage caused by severe weather events such as tornadoes, flooding and sudden freezes. The increased insurance costs are not limited to Arkansas, but are being experienced nationwide. Not only schools but also homeowners are seeing increases in the cost of insuring property.

Education Week, a national news magazine that focuses on issues affecting schools, reported that in Davis, Oklahoma, the cost of liability insurance has increased more than threefold percent since the 2019-2020 school year, when the cost of insurance to the district was about $68 per student. It is now $167 per student and is going up to $290 per student.

According to the superintendent, the district pays $261,000 for property insurance. That amount would cover the pay of two teachers, or an entire grade level of math and science text books, he said.

The article in Education Week said that other factors, in addition to severe weather events, are causing rates to go up. New laws allowing more lawsuits over sexual abuse have contributed to rate increases.

Cybercrimes were cited also. The Little Rock School District was victimized last year by computer hackers who demanded and received $242,000 in extortion payments. They had stolen sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and other types of identification.

Shakeout within the insurance industry is also a factor. In markets where some companies have stopped writing policies, there is less competition and therefore less pressure to hold down rates.

Major companies have stopped issuing new homeowner policies in California because of the prevalence of wildfires. Spokesmen for the insurance companies attributed their decisions in part to inflation and the higher costs of re-building homes and structures.

New Drug Laws

Earlier this year the legislature approved Act 584, which creates a new felony of “death by delivery” for dealers who lace their illegal drugs with fentanyl, resulting in the death of users. The penalties range from 20 years to life.

Prosecutors in Searcy relied on Act 584 when they filed felony charges recently against a couple who allegedly sold drugs laced with fentanyl to two people who died from overdoses.

Last year 487 people in Arkansas died from a drug overdose, and so far this year 133 Arkansans have died from fatal doses of drugs. In the past few years fentanyl has become the leading cause of fatal overdoses.

So far this year, emergency medical personnel and first responders have administered almost 2,000 doses of Naloxone to Arkansans at risk of death from an overdose.