We have been contacted by a reader who informed us a news story written in the Sunday, May 1, 2022, issue of this newspaper contained incorrect information.

The story was entitled “KPS footing legal tab for federal suit; claims outside of insurance coverage” and was written by Michael Swisher.

The subject of the article was why Kingfisher Public Schools has no liability insurance coverage for the current civil lawsuit filed by Mason Mecklenburg against the district, two current football coaches and two former football coaches.

In the article, then KPS Superintendent Dr. Dan Craig stated that on July 30, 2021, one day after the case was filed, that he filed a claim with Oklahoma Schools Risk Management Trust (OSRMT), and the claim was denied.

He said among the reasons given by the OSRMT representative was that KPS did not purchase “tail coverage,” which insures claims filed after the policy lapses for incidents that occurred while the policy was still in force.

As it turns out, KPS actually had no insurance to cover liability, because OSRMT was insolvent and unable to pay claims regardless of the tail coverage being in effect.

The end result is that the property owners within the KPS district will have to foot the bill through an assessed levy of some sort if Mecklenburg is awarded a money judgment as a result of a jury trial currently set to begin in December of this year at the United States Western District of Oklahoma Court in Oklahoma City.

Jason Sternberger, the KPS superintendent before Craig, accepted the post of superintendent for Hennessey Public Schools after the 2020-21 school year.

Sternberger was also a member of the OSRMT board of directors.

He had informed the KPS board members at several earlier meetings that the OSRMT insurance premium payments would likely increase dramatically due to several Oklahoma schools having several large storm damage claims, as well as other schools switching their insurance coverage to other companies.

When contacted recently by the Kingfisher Times and Free Press, Sternberger said he is not, nor has ever been financially compensated for his role on the OSRMT board of directors.

“If we had a meeting and I drove my personal vehicle, they would reimburse me for mileage, but that’s it,” Sternberger said.

Sternberger said the OSRMT board still has meetings as members work to close all remaining business of the failed entity.

“It was an insurance business model that has worked successfully in several states other than Oklahoma,” Sternberger said of OSRMT.

“But there were some problems with large storm damage claims for several schools, while at the same time, other schools were backing out and switching to other insurance companies, so OSRMT was forced to raise their premium payment costs dramatically for those still signed up as others backed out.

“It just couldn’t sustain itself,” he said. Subsequently in June 2021, upon Craig’s recommendation, KPS board members voted to go with Oklahoma Schools Insurance Group (OSIG).

Craig, now small business manager at Chisholm Trail Technology Center, told the Kingfisher Times and Free Press in a recent telephone conversation that OSRMT had sent notices to school districts that did not renew their policies regarding the purchase of the tail coverage (of which KPS was one), but the notice was sent to Sternberger’s dormant Kingfisher e-mail address only, and it was not viewed because Sternberger had since taken over the Hennessey job.

“It would have been nice if they would have sent a letter, or called,” Craig said.

“But as we now know, they knew they were going out of business, and those efforts weren’t made and, as it turns out, because they were insolvent they couldn’t have covered any claims anyway.”

The lack of coverage also means KPS has to pay the legal bills for the district as well as the coaches.

To date, the district has paid $682,794.29 in attorneys’ fees.