The purposes of the study were to: (1) compare the cost-loss ratio of selected Indiana school corporations in physical property insurance coverage; (2) review the established self-insurance funds that provide protection for public school property; (3) form a hypothetical self-insurance fund for the protection of the physical property of Indiana school corporations; and (4) to determine if a program of self-insurance by means of a funded reserve was feasible as an alternative for the protection of physical property.The method of investigation included the gathering of data by means of a developed questionnaire from selected Indiana school corporations having 10,000 students or more during the years 1969-70 through 1973-74. Evaluation was done by computing cost-loss ratios from the data. A review of operating self-insurance programs was made and a model plan of self-insurance for the public schools of Indiana was presented based on criteria of the operating funds and the experiences of the Indiana school corporations.The data were reported under the following divisions:1. The money expended for insurance premiums for the protection of physical property.2. The appraised value of the property insured.3. The method used to arrive at the valuation.4. The amount of money received from insurance companies as indemnity for loss of physical property.5. The difficulty encountered in obtaining insurance coverage for the school property.6. The method used for purchasing school physical property insurance.The data were treated normatively using percentages and tables. The findings of the study are as follows:1. The ratio of claims paid to the premium costs of insurance was 15.22 per cent for the five-year period.2. Twenty-nine per cent of the school corporations used the insurance company engineer to appraise the value of public school property; 29 per cent used the professional appraisal company; 17 per cent made use of architects; and 13 per cent used a committee to determine the insurable value of the physical property.3. Seventy-five per cent of the administrators reported that competitive bids were used for purchasing insurance. However, 25 per cent used other methods of placing the school property insurance.4. Most of the administrators, 87.50 per cent, reported having no difficulty in placing the coverage for the protection of their physical property; however, 12.50 per cent experienced difficulty in finding a company willing to insure the property.The findings of the study support the following conclusions:1. A considerable cash reserve would be available for educational purposes, other than the payment for insurance premiums, if the school corporations in the study had formed a selfinsurance fund during the 1969-70 school year and maintained the fund for the five-year period.2. All of the state self-insurance funds are operating with sufficient reserves to meet operating expenses and pay loss claims as they occur.3. Insurance costs for the public schools in states with operating self-insurance funds varied from no costs to 68 per cent of insurance bureau rates.4. Economically, a self-insurance fund would be feasible for the public schools of Indiana.The findings and conclusions of the study support the following recommendations:1. A self-insurance fund modeled after the one presented in this study should be developed and presented for consideration by the Indiana General Assembly.2. The General Assembly should provide a reserve for the fund during the first years of operation to insure solvency.3. The fund should operate on sound insurance principles and should be free from political pressures.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects tort and actual litigation and the possible increase in the cost of errors and omissions insurance have had as reported by public school officials. The populations consisted of 138 public school corporations and 136 public school board members.The data collection instruments used in the study consisted of a 16 item instrument for the public school corporations which included a demographic section and questions regarding the availability of insurance and incidence of litigation and for the public school board members at 15 item Likert style questionnaire regarding the threat of being sued. Six null hypotheses were tested for statistical significance using an analysis of variance, Spearman Rho Correlations coefficient, and chi-square. The .05 level of significance was established as the critical probability level for the non-acceptance of hypotheses.FindingsPublic School Corporations1. There was no significant difference among the four enrollment groups when a Spearman Rho Correlation was applied as a statistical test. There was statistically significant difference; however, when the Analysis of Variance and Chi-Square statistical tests were applied.2. School corporations of 8,001 or more students paid significantly more for errors and omissions insurance school corporations of less than 1500 students paid significantly less for insurance.3. A statistically significant difference could not be established based upon the school corporation's assessed valuation for either an analysis of variance or Spearman Rho Correlation statistical test.4. In the period 1982-1987, the cost for errors and omissions insurance was significantly higher in 1987 than any of the other years. Also in 1986 the premiums were significantly higher than in 1984.5. School corporations with enrollments up to 1500 students experienced significantly fewer cases of litigation, while school corporations with 8,001 or more students experienced a significantly higher number of cases of litigation.6. Urban school corporations had significantly more cases of litigation than did rural/small town school corporations. Rural/small town school corporations had and significantly fewer cases of litigation.7. Seventy four and a half percent of the public school superintendents felt that the new state pool for liability insurance did not prevent the insurance companies form charging unusually higher premiums.8. Forty eight and two tenths percent of the superintendents felt that the new state pool for liability insurance did not encourage insurance companies to reinsure public school corporations. Thirty three and six tenths percent of the superintendents were undecided, while eighteen and one tenths percent felt the pool had a effect.9. Eighty and three tenths percent of the superintendents surveyed felt that there had been a significant increase in the cost of errors and omissions insurance.Public School Board Members1. Board members in the age category of 40-49 were significantly different from board members in the age categories of 0-39 and 50+ in that they did not feel it necessary to obtain or retain personal errors and omissions insurance because of the threat of being sued.2. The 50+ age category was significantly different than the other age categories in that they were significantly less threatened and had stronger conviction positive regarding decisions even though the threat of being sued was present.3. Age categories 40-49 and 50+ were significantly different than category 0-39 in that they were not effected by the threat of being sued for allowing corporal punishment in their school corporations.4. Male school board members agreed more than female board members that the corporation policy handbook had been updated as a result of the threat of being sued.5. College educated public school board members had stronger conviction in making difficult decisions and were less threatened by the threat of being sued than high school educated public school board members.6. The high school educated public school board members felt a significantly greater need to be familiar knowledgeable regarding the corporation policy than did college educated public school board members.7. The more formal education a public school board had the less he agreed corporal punishment should be disallowed because of the threat of being sued.8. Urban public school board members were significantly less knowledgeable regarding the newly created Indiana risk management commission than rural/small town and suburban public school board members. / Department of Educational Administration and Supervision