School insurance programs often present major problems in school administration. School insurance of various types is one means of preventing or limiting financial loss from property damage or the claims of individuals for injury or damage payments. In varying degrees the States have delegated to certain local administrative school units and/or institutional boards the responsibility for administering the educational program in their areas of influence. This responsibility is often construed to carry with it an obligation to protect and preserve the physical properties of the district and also to some extent to protect the school administrative unit or its officials from damage or injury claims. The different local boards assume these responsibilities in various ways. There are many types of insurance coverage purchased by the schools and the total annual premium costs may become a major budget item for a school district. School insurance problems are of concern both to the local districts and to the State. This study is limited primarily to school insurance experiences on a State-wide basis. It gives specific attention to the total premium costs, the losses, and the loss ratios for one area of coverage--that of fire insurance on all school properties--for the 5-year period 1948-52 inclusive, as developed on the basis of the classification agreement of 1947. In addition, the study gives attention to the experiences of the five States which have developed State-operated school insurance programs which are applicable to elementary and secondary public schools. This study presents data on both privately managed and State sponsored fire insurance programs as they apply to schools. These programs are operated on different bases and no effort is made to compare or to evaluate the relative merits or costs of the two types of programs. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 12 tables.) [Best copy available has been provided.]