Sex abuse claims against some WA school districts are raising insurance rates for all
In mid-May, as Washington school districts were deep into developing their budgets for the next academic year, around 130 received notices that their rates for the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool were going up. And not just by a little bit: by an average of 45%.
School districts contribute funds to the risk pool instead of paying for traditional liability insurance. Those dollars are pooled to pay for settlements or costly claims against individual districts, keeping rates more manageable for all.
The main driver of the jump in rates? A sudden increase in the cost of sexual abuse claims brought against districts.
In the last few years, the legal landscape has shifted in Washington for victims of sexual abuse in schools. Changes to statute of limitation laws in recent years have resulted in districts seeing claims from 20 or 30 years ago. A 2020 Supreme Court case also affirmed that school districts are strictly liable for the actions of their employees, even if they were not aware of the harm.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/06/22/sex-abuse-claims-against-some-wa-school-districts-are-raising-insurance-rates-for-all/
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