Scholar-on-teacher violence insurance coverage claims down 39%

With back-to-school season in full swing, issues about classroom violence are on the forefront, particularly in mild of this month’s taking pictures at Apalachee Excessive College in Georgia.

Within the midst of ongoing discussions about creating safer colleges and heightened efforts from presidential candidates – comparable to Vice President Kamala Harris’ current announcement of two new gun security measures – Gallagher Bassett’s newest evaluation reveals a constructive pattern: insurance coverage claims associated to student-on-teacher violence are dropping.

A downwards pattern in class violence

In response to Gallagher Bassett, claims of student-on-teacher violence – together with incidents the place bodily hurt comparable to biting, hitting, and different aggressive behaviors happen – have dropped by 39% this yr in comparison with the 2022-2023 college yr. Moreover, the full price of those claims has decreased by practically 50%.

“We carried out a cohort research utilizing a considerable section of our academic claims information,” mentioned Greg McKenna, nationwide follow chief, public sector at Gallagher Bassett. “By analyzing information from practically 2,000 of our consumer colleges throughout each city and rural areas, we examined incidents of student-on-teacher violence within the years earlier than and after the pandemic.”

The research reveals that whereas claims peaked throughout the 2017-2018 college yr with 1,349 incidents, student-on-teacher violence has declined within the years following the pandemic.

The 2023-2024 college yr noticed 868 assault claims with a complete price of $4.9 million. It is a vital discount from the 2022-2023 college yr, which recorded 1,426 claims costing $9.7 million. 

The necessity for enhanced employees’ comp insurance policies

Whereas pinpointing the precise reason for the decline in student-on-teacher violence is difficult, McKenna steered it could possibly be linked to the renewed emphasis on psychological well being and pupil assist providers following the resumption of in-person training after the pandemic.

“I hope we see continued progress on decreasing the variety of these claims, as a result of let’s face it, these should not the sort of claims that anyone desires to see,” he mentioned.

Nevertheless, when these incidents do happen, the trauma usually extends past bodily accidents, highlighting the necessity for insurers and state legislatures to think about advancing employees’ compensation insurance policies to put extra emphasis on PTSD and psychological well being assist for lecturers.

“Whereas I wouldn’t say you’re going to see an total lower in all work-related accidents for lecturers, we’re glad to see this subset of student-on-teacher violence coming down,” McKenna mentioned. “It’s one thing we’re desirous to regulate going ahead.”