WESTBROOK – The Westbrook School Department has put pressure on its insurance administrator to close more than half of its 19 open worker’s compensation claims, some dating back to the 1990s.

Superintendent Reza Namin, who started taking a close look at the department’s budget this year, said he was surprised to find how many open claims there were and wondered why they hadn’t been more effectively managed. Human Resources Director Kristy Gould agreed.

“I was surprised,” she said. “Those are worrisome, to see large cases.”

Closing the worker’s compensation claims is just part of the aggressive approach Namin has taken to tighten the budget and increase efficiency in the department. Namin took over the top job at Westbrook schools this summer, replacing Stan Sawyer, who held the position for 10 years. Last month, Namin rolled out a plan to restructure the department’s administration, eliminating four positions and consolidating two others to save nearly $600,000.

To close some of the worker’s comp claims, Gould has been working with Maine School Management Association, which administers the department’s insurance. She said nine have already been closed and two other large claims, both of which date back to the ’90s, are close to being settled. According to Gould, three claims date back to the ’90s. There’s also one employee who’s claimed eight injuries.

“There are still some old, messy cases,” she said.

Though closing the worker’s compensation claims won’t have a significant impact on the budget right away, over time the department’s insurance premium will drop if the number of open claims does, as well.

According to Gould, the amount the department pays for its insurance premium is based on a formula that takes into account the claims that have been made or remained open during the past three years. Currently, the department pays $164,000 per year in premium.

“Effectively managing worker’s compensation cases does affect the bottom line,” she said.

Gould, who works mostly for the city and part time for the school department, said, by comparison, the city has three or four open claims among its some 220 full- and part-time employees. Westbrook schools’ 19 claims account for 4.2 percent of its 450 employees. In South Portland schools’ 700-person department, there are 11 open claims, representing 1.6 percent of employees, according to the department’s business manager, Polly Ward.

School Committee Chairman Greg Smith said because the expertise of Sawyer and Michael Kucsma, the former business manager, was in school administration rather than insurance, he could see how the worker’s compensation issues could have been missed if they weren’t made aware of them by Maine School Management Association. Having Namin’s fresh set of eyes and help from Gould brought the issue to the forefront, Smith said.

“I’m glad we’re seeing the situation for what it is,” he said, adding he hoped the department won’t see the problem arise again.

Though closing some of the claims will benefit Westbrook schools in the long run, Namin has other strategies to cut costs now.

School departments all over Maine were notified last month of the reductions they would be getting in state aid. Westbrook’s funding will drop by about $600,000.

Namin has set a goal for the department to reduce spending by $2 million and has told principals to come back to him at the end of December with plans to cut costs in each of the schools.

In addition to the administrative restructuring, Namin, the School Committee and city officials have agreed to share a chief financial planner, replacing the city’s finance director and the school department’s business manager – a position that was vacated last month by Kucsma.

The new financial planner will be charged with finding areas that the city and schools could further consolidate to save money, such as using the same insurance vendor.

One smaller cost-saving measure Namin has already taken was to remove an employee’s 24-hour access to a departmental vehicle, which was being used for that employee’s commute to and from work. Namin has said the truck will now stay parked at the public services garage and be used as needed.

Namin said more decisions about spending cuts will be made after a strategic planning process is complete at the end of February. Community members have been meeting to discuss what they believe is most important for their city’s schools, and those conclusions will help guide Namin through the budget process.

“We need to discuss priorities and allocate the funds based on what we all collectively believe is important,” he said.

Smith said he thinks Namin’s experience and perspective will continue to help shed light on how Westbrook schools can be run more effectively.

“That’s what we wanted,” Smith said. “We wanted him to come in and take what was already a good department and bring it up to the next level, make it even better.”