Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Schools' insurance situation unresolved

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

Socorro Consolidated Schools' insurance provider continues to refuse to pay the consulting company that is suing the district for payment for monitoring of roof repairs after the October 2004 hailstorm.

At the meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 30, school board members received copies of letters between Superintendent Cheryl Wilson and New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority Senior Claims Supervisor Greg Ramirez regarding payment of Crenshaw Consulting Group of Hobbs.

Crenshaw Consulting owner Vickie Crenshaw was not available for comment.

"So I don't think they are any closer to what they wanted, but there it is," Wilson said.

This spring, Crenshaw told Wilson in a letter that she was turning unpaid bills over to her attorney for collection. Crenshaw said the school's insurance carrier should pay her company for monitoring repairs on roofs that took longer than the agreed upon time due to delays the carrier caused.

In July, Jon Stoltzfus, current Crenshaw employee and former insurance authority representative for Socorro, asked the district to write to the insurance carrier requesting payment for Crenshaw. Wilson complied and sent a letter dated Aug. 18.

In his reply Ramirez said the unpaid bills weren't for increased costs from delays, but "were due to the simple fact that Crenshaw Consulting Group was charging a higher hourly rate for her services and was also charging for ancillary costs such as meals and travel that were not agreed to in her original proposal to the Socorro Consolidated Schools.

"Therefore, all of the various invoices have been reduced to her original proposed rates, which accounts for the shortage to Crenshaw Consulting," Ramirez wrote.

aduncan@dchieftain.com

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