Kingfisher Public Schools is making one last effort to recoup some of the money spent in a civil lawsuit that was settled last year.

The board of education last Monday directed Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold the law firm that represents the district - to take action in a case involving Oklahoma Schools Risk Management Trust.

OSRMT is in its final stages of bankruptcy and Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready is seeking an order that places OSRMT “into receivership, appoints the commissioner as receiver, orders the trust to be liquidated, grants injunctive relief and approves the receiver’s notice of liquidation, proof of claim form and reporting deadlines.”

“We’re going to file another claim and we’re going to try to collect on some of the attorneys’ fees and the settlement,” said Interim Superintendent Andy Evans after the board meeting. “We’re trying to find a way to get that, but whether or not we can, we don’t know.

“They’re in the final stages of bankruptcy, so we have to file the claim by Oct. 21.”

A civil suit against KPS and four coaches was filed in July 2021 by Mason Mecklenburg, who alleged a culture of hazing and bullying within the Kingfi sher High School football program.

KPS switched insurance carriers in June 2021, going from OSRMT to Oklahoma Schools Insurance Group (OSIG).

The move was made on the recommendation of then-Superintendent Dr. Daniel Craig at the June 2021 meeting of the board, his first in his new position.

Craig noted the premium to renew with OSRMT was more than $400,000, a stark increase from the previous year’s premium of $265,027.58 and significantly more than OSIG’s quote of $270,537.

Jason Sternberger, the district’s superintendent prior to Craig, had told school board members at multiple previous board meetings that OSRMT’s premiums were likely to steeply increase due to a number of reasons, including a bulk of large payouts to policyholders.

Sternberger was also on the OSRMT board.

When the lawsuit was filed, OSIG said it wouldn’t cover any costs because it wasn’t the insurance carrier at the time of the alleged incidents (2017-2020).

When Craig contacted OSRMT, he was told the district wouldn’t be covered by that company for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was the fact it was becoming insolvent.

OSRMT saw a massive decline in the amount of school districts that opted to use the trust as a group insurer on top of the large amount of claims it paid out.

Craig said he was told by an OSRMT representative that even if the company had the money for a claim, the district wouldn’t be covered because its policy didn’t cover that type of claim.

Craig said the school district’s lawyers reviewed the policy and agreed.

Kingfisher didn’t purchase tail coverage, a policy that extends coverage for incidents that occurred while a policy was active, but not reported until after the policy expired, from OSRMT.

The emails for such coverage were sent to Sternberger’s email address by OSRMT. Sternberger had since taken the same position at Hennessey and Craig didn’t receive them.

Craig said he was also told it would not have mattered if the tail coverage had been purchased.

He said OSRMT denied coverage on Oct. 5, 2021.

That left the district to have to cover the costs of litigating the lawsuit, which was settled for $5 million last November.

To date, the district has paid more than $1.4 million in attorneys’ fees related to the case.

OSRMT is currently involved in multiple lawsuits as it goes through the bankruptcy proceedings.

Evans reiterated to the KT&FP on Monday that the district’s chances of recouping funds probably aren’t high. He likened it to a full-court shot in basketball.

“It’s a long shot,” he said. “But we have to at least try.”