Ashtabula Area City Schools is alleging its insurance provider is refusing to pay claims for repairs to Lakeside High School after its roof collapsed last winter, leaving the district without its high school for nearly a year.
The lawsuit filed Monday alleges Liberty Mutual Insurance Company has blocked reconstruction of the building by refusing to pay for repairs, leaving portions of the building open to the elements and causing further deterioration.
Liberty Mutual Insurance's media relations team told Ideastream Public Media the company does not comment on legal matters.
The district is being represented by Merlin Law Group. The national firm said in a press release that 900 students and 100 staff members are still displaced, and the high school building remains “structurally unsafe and unusable.”
“This has been devastating for our students, staff and entire community. Our high school sits in ruins, and our students are being negatively impacted without the facilities they need to learn,” said Lisa Newsome, superintendent of the Ashtabula Area City School District. “We did everything right: we maintained adequate insurance coverage of $232+ million, we cooperated fully with Liberty Mutual's investigation and we took every step to resolve this claim. Liberty Mutual still refuses to pay and has failed our children when they needed them most.”
A portion of Lakeside High School's roof collapsed in early December 2024 after heavy snowfall. After, Newsome had predicted the building would be unusable for the rest of the academic year and said the district's students and staff would be sent to two other schools.
The district and community have struggled due to the continued closure of the high school, the press release said, including not being able to use science labs, the gym and the auditorium. Teaching staff and the board of education's office have been "completely displaced."
"The community has been deeply affected by the prolonged closure, with many residents under the misconception that the school district failed to maintain adequate insurance," the release reads. "In reality, the district maintained more than sufficient coverage and paid all required premiums."
The release alleges Liberty Mutual's experts have downplayed the extent of the structural damage, attributing the collapse to pre-existing infrastructure problems, "despite independent engineering assessments concluding otherwise."
However, WKYC reported issues with the Lakeside High School roof began in 2006, shortly after it was built. The district sued the now-defunct construction company for alleged shoddy work. The Ashtabula Star Beacon also reported buckling of the roof caused by a snowstorm in 2018 cost the district $70,000 in repairs.
