School Board coping with insurance costs

CENTERVILLE — The St. Mary School Board grappled Thursday with rising insurance costs for employees and retirees, and heard a warning that tough choices may be ahead.
Also at Thursday’s regular monthly meeting, the board approved a new salary schedule to accommodate recently approved raises.
Insurance
The costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may be showing up in insurance costs that the School Board shares with covered employees and retirees.
The board accepted a bid from Unum offering life insurance coverage for $436,053 for the coming year.
The current insurer, Voya, had submitted a renewal bid of $502,358, an increase of 16% over the cost for this year.
Unum’s bid represents an increase of 0.7% over the current Voya price and includes a three-year rate guarantee, Chief Financial Officer Alton Perry told the board.
Perry recommended that the board pay all of the $3,249 increase in premiums rather than increase the employee contribution.
The school system solicited bids from 20 insurers and received five, Perry said.
Cost may also be an issue when the board considers renewal of employee and retiree health care coverage next month.
Insurance consultant James Perez told the board that the system had already received several large claims by the end of March. That may result from employees undergoing procedures that they delayed in 2020 because of COVID, Perez said.
“I don’t think at this point that it’s going to be a pretty renewal,” Perez said.
The board last year switched carriers, accepting a bid from United Healthcare over the renewal proposal from Blue Cross.
One of the attractions in the United proposal last year was a connection with a Medicare Advantage Plan option for Medicare-eligible employees.
Medicare Advantage was the good insurance news Thursday.
Perez said no premium increase is anticipated in the plan, and benefits may be expanded to cover transportation to and from clinics and pharmacies after surgery.
Salaries
The board accepted an adjusted salary schedule to reflect raises resulted from an increase in state aid and from passage of a 0.45% parishwide sales tax.
The new tax will fund a $3,000 annual raise for certified employees, mostly teachers, and a $1,500 raise for other employees.
An increase in education funding from the state will pay for an additional $800 a year for certified employees and $400 for non-certified employees.
School
begins again
Superintendent Teresa Bagwell said the new school year will begin Aug. 6.
Teachers will return for a two-day training July 19-20 to talk about curriculum, new laws affecting schools and instructional strategy.
Orientation for new teachers will be July 27.