Toms River School Board's Insurance Committee to Meet, Discuss Coverage

The Toms River Regional School Board will hold a committee meeting of the whole, for its insurance committee to discuss contracts and plan providers.

The meeting will begin 6 p.m., at the district's administration headquarters, 1144 Hooper Ave., Conference Room A. There will be a closed session for insurance broker recommendations regarding insurance contracts and plan providers. After that, the meeting will open to the publich, and action may be taken.

The meeting has the distinction of being the first meeting of the school board held since the district's former superintendent pleaded guilty to two of 27 federal counts in a corruption scandal. He entered his plea last week.

The indictment of Ritacco, and co-conspirator Francis X. Gartland, accused the pair of a kickback scheme surrounding the district's insurance contracts. Gartland, the district's former insurance broker, plead guilty to four counts. The October 2010 indictment came the same day Ritacco retired from the school board.

Superintendent Frank Roselli said after last week's guilty plea that reforms to the insurance contracts came with the use of AJ Gallagher.

“Long before the resolution of this case, the district worked hard to address areas where internal controls needed to be strengthened. The Toms River Regional Board of Education solicited competitive broker proposals in awarding to AJ Gallagher for property/casualty insurance and subsequently BGIA for health insurance in 2011,” said Roselli.

“The Board added a new section to board policy that requires us to solicit proposals at least every 3 years for insurance brokers," Roselli said. "Our insurance contracts, which have all been closely reviewed by the Board attorney’s office, now clearly spell out responsibilities and fees.”

“The entire insurance program is tightly managed by the new brokers and the new district business administrator,” Roselli said. “All payments and services must conform to contract.”

According to the public agenda, the meeting will discuss insurance broker recommendations, regarding insurance contracts and plan providers.