PAISBIG (Philadelphia Area Independent School Business Insurance Group)

School Business Offices today are dealing with issues many believed only happened to “other” schools. From incidents of sexual misconduct to employment practices to student disciplinary actions, students, parents and employees are increasingly taking legal action against their schools.  The PAISBIG Committee, in consultation with experts in the field, has put together a comprehensive package designed specifically to meet the complex needs of schools.

In addition, the committee is diligently working on behalf of members to address the pressing risk management issues facing our schools through both insurance coverage and risk management practices. The areas of coverage provided by this property and casualty program include Workers Compensation, student accident coverage, General Liability, Umbrella liability, and Directors and Officers Liability. Currently, 41 schools participate in the various PAISBIG sponsored programs.

PAISBOND (Financial Consulting Services)

In the spring of 2000, PAISBOA created a tax exempt bond program.  The first issue involving four schools and $27.3 million closed in December 2000, but following that issue there has not been enough interest to support an ongoing effort.

However, our consultants (Public Financial Management) have agreed, at a reduced fee, to consult with member schools, to analyze their individual financial structures, practices and credit worthy status to locate and take advantage of other leveraging opportunities of significant benefit.

It is hoped that this activity will point out opportunities for a coordinated effort in areas where there is potential for efficiency in group action such as tax exempt leasing.

PAISENERGY

The overall goal of the program is the reduction of energy costs, through conservation and collective purchasing as well as the promotion of ‘’Green “energy alternatives.

This program was established in 1998 in response to electric deregulation in Pennsylvania. We partnered with the Intermediate Units of the 5 counties surrounding Philadelphia to buy electricity through 2004, when the rate caps eliminated the interest of competition in Pennsylvania.

In anticipation of the elimination of rate caps in Pennsylvania January of 2011, in 2008 we reset the goals and objectives of this program as the Energy Project, where the initial efforts were designed to capture costs and survey data to support group purchasing activities, measure the results of initiatives and provide benchmarking data. We hired The Stone House Group to coordinate and manage the project, the first result of which is expected to be the purchase of natural gas in the summer of 2009. In collaboration with Stone House, we have contracted with Enstrat to execute a purchasing strategy.

PAISPC (Philadelphia Area Independent School Purchasing Consortium)

Currently 68 schools have made the commitment (policy and modest financial) to use their collective buying power to gain price, service and time saving benefits. Outstanding results are achieved through the commitment to use the vendors selected by the Consortium’s process to the fullest extent possible.

In its 10th year of operation the Consortium achieved a volume of over $6.7 million dollars through the use of 18 agreements stipulating price and service. Collective savings of nearly $2.5 million dollars was realized through these agreements.