A regional educational cooperative representing school districts in southcentral Kentucky could soon see a settlement to a lawsuit involving the defunct Kentucky School Boards Insurance Trust, which left area school districts on the hook when it became insolvent in 2013. 

“It looks like there could possibly be a settlement,” GRREC Executive Director Tim Murley said after Wednesday’s Green River Regional Educational Cooperative board meeting. 

The cooperative, which represents 42 regional school districts, agreed to approve a settlement provided the Kentucky League of Cities brings one to the table. 

Murley said districts were left liable after the Kentucky School Boards Insurance Trust’s developed a deficit. 

“If you had ever had KSBIT in the past you had to pay a certain amount, and all districts had to pay a different amount at that time,” he said, adding the co-op also played a role in representing districts legally. 

The trust, which provided workers’ compensation and property insurance coverage for school districts, shut down in June  2013, according to a Daily News report on the development. It was originally reported that Warren County Public Schools were on the hook for $763,000 and the Bowling Green Independent School District faced a liability of $109,000. Later assessments put the city school district at $78,682 and the county schools at more than $420,000. Both school districts had to work out plans to cover their assessments. 

“I would like to see a settlement on it because … it’s just kind of hanging out there,” Murley said following the meeting. 

Mike Owsley, an attorney who represents the co-op, said the lawsuit could be settled before the end of the year. 

“In principle the settlement’s agreed to but not the verbiage in the documents,” he said, adding at this point it’s more about deciding where to place the commas. 

“There were multiple lawsuits involving the liquidation of the Kentucky School Boards Insurance Trust,” Owsley said. “The parties are hopefully going to be able to resolve those various lawsuits in a manner that will be acceptable to all the parties including but not limited to GRREC.”

In other business, Western Kentucky University representatives spoke to superintendents hoping to get their help with planning events for an upcoming solar eclipse Aug. 21. 

Richard Gelderman, a WKU professor and director of the Hardin Planetarium, shared his experience of witnessing of solar eclipse, stressing how unbelievable the experience was.

“The sun disappears in the middle of the day,” he proclaimed several times for dramatic effect. “We are here to make sure that everyone at least knows what’s going on and has a chance to plan to experience this.”

Theo Wellington, WKU’s eclipse activity planning coordinator, agreed. 

“We want to bring that experience to as many students as possible, and we’d like to propose several ways to make that happen,” she said. 

Wellington recommended school districts in the eclipse’s path of totality gather their students in high school football stadiums for the event to handle the students and allow organizers to provide volunteers. For students outside the path of totality, Wellington said organizers are reserving WKU’s Houchens-Smith Stadium. 

“Across the U.S., parents are going to be bringing their children into this path of totality,” Wellington said. “We don’t want our students to miss it.” 

— Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.