In 1986, the Illinois School District Agency (ISDA) was established to help combat the high cost of traditional property/casualty insurance. Today, the ISDA provides competitively priced property/casualty coverage to over 130 school districts across the state.

Broad, reliable and competitively priced property/casualty coverage is the foundation of the ISDA program. The ISDA comprehensive package includes property, general liability, SBLL, automobile, equipment breakdown, and umbrella coverage protection. The coverage offered through the ISDA is regularly updated and tailored to meet the needs of public school districts. Over the years, the coverage package has grown to include catastrophic property exposures, liabilities arising from advances in technology, as well as coverages to meet the needs of special education. In addition, ISDA provides the highest limits available to Illinois public schools for abuse and molestation claims.

ISDA Board of Regents

Membership Privileges

ISDA was founded to address the specific property/casualty coverage needs of Illinois school districts. Sponsored by the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB), ISDA started out with 17 Illinois school district members and $854,000 in contributions. Under the program administration of The Sandner Group - Insurance Program Managers and its staff of industry professionals, ISDA has continued to grow and increase its level of service to member districts. Through the years, ISDA has provided Illinois school districts with dependable service in conjunction with broad, reliable and competitively priced property/casualty coverage.

Student Accident Coverage

ISDA is always looking for new ways to help its member districts. The Student Accident Coverage program will help defray medical costs for students injured while attending regular school sessions, while traveling to and from school, and while participating in most school-sanctioned activities. This coverage provides a limit of $5,000,000 and is a way for ISDA to help member school districts show their community they care about students injured during school activities. The Student Accident program enables school districts to comply with 105 ILCS 5/22-15 "Insurance on Athletes."

Property Appraisal

Approximately 80% of member districts take advantage of ISDA’s low-cost property appraisal service. ISDA’s loss control staff conducts appraisals on-site, and provides members with an accurate value of school property to ensure that the school is purchasing the appropriate amount of coverage. Using the sophisticated computerized Marshall Swift/Boeckh system, ISDA’s loss control staff provides the initial appraisal, and then conducts yearly updates as well as additional field work as needed.