Chinook School Division continues participation in same insurance plan

Posted on 14 September 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

By Matthew Liebenberg

mliebenberg@prairiepost.com

The Chinook School Division has renewed its participation in the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) general insurance plan for the next five years, despite the difficulties the school division experienced with the Stewart Valley School insurance claim.

Trustees approved the motion to renew the school division’s participation in the SSBA insurance plan during a Chinook Board of Education regular meeting, Aug. 24.

Subdivision 2 trustee Rachael Eliason spoke about the board’s reasoning before the motion’s approval.

“I think in light of the things that we’ve experienced in the last four years, maybe it seems like a head scratch why we would renew this same agreement that we have, but the cost of going out on our own would be prohibitive since we have no cash to spare,” she said. “And in addition, we’re in conversation with the SSBA about how we could be better supported by different wording or changes to the way the policy is written.”

Chinook Chief Financial Officer Sharie Sloman said after the meeting the school division’s experience with the Stewart Valley School insurance claim, which is still being dealt with under ongoing legal proceedings, has been a learning experience that can be useful to improve relevant wording in the SSBA insurance plan.

“There are some things that we need to look at wording-wise and some improvements that we can do just so that should this happen to anyone else, they’re not in the same position we are,” she said. “We’ve learned from whatever things have happened and can make it better.”

The Chinook School Division has been participating in the provincial insurance pool through SSBA since 2006, when the school division was established through the amalgamation of several smaller school divisions in southwest Saskatchewan.

The collective structure of the SSBA general insurance plan has several benefits. The operational risk is shared by the 27 participating school divisions in the province, it provides economies and scale, broad coverage terms, administrative efficiencies and the ability to negotiate competitive insurance rates.

“We save on our premiums to do that,” she said. “You get bigger insurance companies that are interested in bidding and that can provide you that coverage.”

The Chinook School Division’s decision to renew the agreement was influenced by several factors. The division’s liability and auto insurance premiums of $775,833.48 for the 2026-27 fiscal year is lower than the $872,433.20 paid in 2025-26 and the amount of $893,904.32 paid in 2024-25.

Analysis indicated that the school division will pay more for standalone coverage through a private broker. It is estimated that such insurance premiums will vary between $1.55 million and $2.33 million annually.

There will also be administrative costs for the school division to arrange its own insurance coverage compared to the operational efficiency of the centralized provincial model.

“Now you can put it all under one tent and have one or two people do that administrative work for you instead of 27 divisions doing it off the side of their desk,” she said.

The Chinook School Division’s participation in the SSBA general insurance plan will ensure compliance with mandatory insurance requirements under the provincial Education Act as well as SSBA bylaws for physical facilities, equipment, fleet vehicles and general liability.

The agreement to participate in the SSBA insurance plan includes an opt out clause that can be used if the school division decides to follow an alternative insurance approach.

“We can opt out of the program at any time if we so wish,” she said. “We just need to give a year’s notice.”

Chinook School Division renews contract for legal services:

The Chinook School Division has renewed a limited legal services retainer agreement for external legal counsel with the Regina-based law firm Jickling Services.

The contract for the period Sept. 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 was approved during a Chinook Board of Education regular meeting, Aug. 24, 2026.

Chinook Chief Financial Officer Sharie Sloman said after the meeting this is a temporary arrangement due to the school division’s need for supplemental legal services while the SSBA’s new legal counsel gains experience.

“This is probably the third year that we’ve had some external legal assistance,” she noted. “SSBA has gone through a changing of their existing lawyers that they’ve had for several years and so now they’re getting new personnel in there.”

She added that education is a specialized area and the school division therefore needs to be able to have access to other legal support while the new SSBA lawyers get more familiar with this area of legal practice.

Jickling Services has the necessary expertise to provide legal advice to school boards on education-related matters involving staff, students or parents.