The South Brunswick Board of Education was recently notified that the New Jersey School Boards Association Insurance Group (NJSBAIG) has awarded the board a safety grant for the year 2010.
The grant, which totals $18,874, “rewards the South Brunswick Board of Education for its commitment to risk management and will be used to fund safety and security-related improvements,” a press release states.
Anthony Tonzini Jr., the BOE business administrator, said this year’s grant would be used to increase surveillance around South Brunswick High School. “We put in a huge surveillance system this year, and we’re going to add to it,” Tonzini said. The hope is that the increased surveillance — and the knowledge by locals of the surveillance equipment — will decrease the amount of vandalism and other related issues in the school district.
The district was eligible for the grant after Tonzini submitted an application to the consortium, which the school district and about 100 others in the state belong to. The consortium exists for the school districts to work together for lower premium rates across the state.
“By pooling our resources and buying insurance as a group, we’re able to balance the losses, for lack of a better word, and keep our premiums down,” Tonzini said.
Keeping the premiums down can lead to a surplus at the end of the year, he said, and the NJSBAIG uses the surplus to offset premiums for the following year. The group also returns money to the districts in the form of grants.
“Everyone who is in the consortium gets a grant in some amount,” Tonzini said.
The amount of the grant is based on several factors, the most important being the premium the district pays.
“If you’re in a bigger district and you’re paying more money, you’re going to get more back,” he said.
The minimum a district can get back is $5,000. Last year, South Brunswick received less than $10,000, Tonzini said.
The BOE used the 2009 safety grant to install a surveillance system at an elementary school where transportation vehicles were kept. There were some issues with kids sneaking onto buses as well as incidents of vandalism, Tonzini said, and the BOE worked and continues to work to curb those problems.
While there are not many instances of vandalism, each becomes a claim against the insurance that the district must pay for. Tonzini recalled an instance a few years ago when a vehicle was driven onto the football field, creating ruts in the ground. The thousands of dollars it took to fix the field, he said, could have been avoided if surveillance had been available.
The board is hoping to go out to bid on the equipment in the spring, with the goal of finishing installation in May or June.