County BOE votes on insurance plan, modular units
Published 9:40 am Friday, September 16, 2016
Members of the Carter County Board of Education voted on a new insurance plan option for school system employees to comply with state mandates.
A couple of years ago, the Carter County School System selected to go with the state insurance program’s “Limited Plan” option and provide employees with a Gap Coverage Plan that would help by covering expenses not covered under the limited plan. Earlier this year, the school system was informed that Gap Coverage Plans would no longer be permitted which forced the school system to reconsider employee health insurance options.
Director of Schools Dr. Kevin Ward said he and other school system officials have worked with 5 Points Benefits, the school system’s insurance broker, to try to come up with the best possible plan to meet the needs of the school system’s employees.
“We’ve labored over this,” Ward told members of the Board and the school system employees who attended Thursday afternoon’s meeting. “I know a number of people in the office have looked over this, lost sleep over this and have prayed over this.”
Ward said he and other school system supervisors felt the best option for the school system’s employees was to go with the state insurance program’s “Partnership Plan.” The plan has lower co-pays and a lower out of pocket expense than the previous Limited Plan offered.
However, Ward said, the cost of the Partnership Plan would be higher for the school system than the previous limited plan had been.
The school system previously provided health insurance coverage to the employee only at zero cost. Employees had to pay the additional premium cost of adding family members to their coverage.
In order to maintain the zero premium cost for employees, the school system would need an additional $362,500 in funding this fiscal year to pay for the cost of insurance and for the 2017-18 fiscal year the system would need more than $1 Million in additional funds to maintain the insurance.
Ward said the school system and insurance broker looked at two options for employee contributions to their own single coverage insurance — one where the employees would pay $45 per month and the second where they would pay $90 per month.
After reviewing both options, Ward told Board members it was his recommendation to go with the Partnership Plan with an employe premium contribution of $45 per month.
The cost to the school system with the $45 premium option would be $165,726 for the remainder of the 2016-17 fiscal year and $497,178 for the 2017-18 fiscal year.
“We can make that number work,” Ward said, adding money could be taken from fund balance to cover this year and next year’s budget could be reworked to help absorb the increased cost.
Board members approved Ward’s recommendation on a unanimous vote.
The new insurance plan will go into effect on January 1. Ward said those employees who want to remain on the Limited Plan with a zero premium cost to the employee will be allowed to do so but they will not have the Gap Coverage Plan.
In other business, Ward told Board members he had been contacted regarding the chance to purchase six used modular classroom units from the Unicoi County school system. The units are about three years old and each unit houses two classrooms. Ward told Board members the school system would accept $80,000 in payment for all six units, which translates into an approximately cost of $13,333 per unit. Ward said Unicoi county was no longer using the units and needed them moved so the property could be put to use.
“We have some 50 year old units wee need to replace,” Ward said.
The funds to purchase the units could be taken from fund balance while part of the set up and transport fees could come from the building improvements fund and part from fund balance.
Board member Craig Davis made a motion to offer Unicoi County $12,000 per unit, for a total cost of $72,000. The motion was seconded by Board member Kelly Crain and passed unanimously on a vote.
Members of the Board also heard from two local auction companies regarding the potential sale of excess property owned by the school system on Highway 91 near the Elizabethton Airport. Representatives from Russ Swanay Real Estate and Royston Auction both addressed the Board regarding their proposals and thoughts on how the property and auction should be handled. Both companies recommended the 7 acre property be subdivided before auction in order to increase the potential price received for the property.
Board members decided to discuss the matter further in a workshop session to see what they felt the best course of action should be before selecting an auction firm.
In the final order of business, the Board selected its chairman and vice-chairman for the upcoming year. Rusty Barnett was re-elected to serve as Board chairman. Davis was selected to take over for Crain to serve as the new vice-chairman.