Oregon-Davis School District joins fight against teachers’ union

The Oregon-Davis school board voted Monday to approve a contractual agreement with Church, Church, Hittle and Antrim law firm to represent it in an attempt to recover fiscal damages from the Indiana State Teachers’ Association Insurance Trust.

Oregon-Davis, along with the Delphi Community School District, has received board approval to pursue a lawsuit, and both expect more school districts to follow, Oregon-Davis superintendent Steve Disney said.

The trust was taken over by the National Education Administration in May after facing a $67 million deficit in insurance claims. It was the first time a state teachers’ union has made such a request to the NEA.

After the NEA’s takeover of the teacher union, administration trustee Ed Sullivan assured school districts that they would be compensated for their losses.

At press time, Sullivan was unavailable for comment.

Teachers believe that in doing this, the administration has also taken over the financial responsibilities of the trust.

However, teachers have been met with little to no cooperation.

“We’ve been trying to get cooperation from NEA leadership, and they have not followed through with meetings and have not answered our questions, so we’re looking at other channels to remedy the situation,” Disney said.

An insurance consultant for Oregon-Davis said the school district is estimated to be owed between $300,000 and $500,000.

“For a little school district, that’s significant,” Disney said.

In a memorandum issued to school districts involved with the insurance trust, Sullivan proposes an approach where the schools could reach a uniform agreement with the trust.

“I propose a settlement of all school corporations ... under which the trust would pay some amount of money to the school corporation claimants,” the memorandum states. “These amounts would be financed by interest-free loans to the ISTA.”

However, Disney, along with other superintendents, said they have been waiting long enough and that more serious action is needed from the administration.

“NEA has a lot of money,” Disney said. “They can step up to the plate.”