School Board Approves New Health Insurance Plan for Greendale Teachers

For the first time, Greendale teachers will be given the option of enrolling in a high-deductible health care insurance option through United Healthcare.

District administrators presented the plan for approval to the Greendale School Board at the board's August 1 meeting.

Business Manager Erin Green indicated that the district has been working over the past six months to find a plan that would consolidate the coverage for all staff members. The district expects the consolidation to result in cost savings going forward.

Aside from teachers, all school district staff have had the high-deductible insurance option through United Healthcare since 2006.

The new plan increases co-pays for pharmacy, ER, office and urgent care visits, as well as increases the annual deductibles for participants.  

The changes will result in an increase of approximately $35K on an overall expenditure of roughly $ 3.7 million that the district spends annually in health insurance. Green says that will translate to an increase of 1.5 percent, which is far below the national trend increase of 11-12 percent.

Full-time employees who participate in the district wellness plan will contribute 10 percent of the premium cost, while those who do not will contribute 13 percent. 

The district will offer a $3K cash payment in lieu of family coverage or a $1.5K cash payment for single coverage for employees who opt out of the health insurance program. Spouses who are both employed by the district cannot take the cash-in-lieu option if one of them is enrolled in the program.

The school board voted unanimously 4-0 to approve the health insurance plan. Board member Anne Sczygiel was absent from the meeting.

The board and administrators expect the new health insurance plan to help maintain costs and balance the Greendale School District's budget in line with changes brought on by Governor Walker's Budget Repair Bill.

At the school board's June 20 meeting, board members had approved the 2011-12 proposed budget. The change in moving health insurance costs to employees, as directed by Walker's Bill, offsets a revenue loss of $903,403 brought on by a revenue cap decrease of $628 per student in the district.

The overall district budget for 2011-12 consists of $31,792,299 in revenues and $32,842,462 in expenditures, not including inter-fund transfers. The difference of $1,050,163 accounts for money earmarked for the possible remodeling of classroom space at several of the schools that would use district fund balances, although those budget items are on hold for now.

Increased student enrollment is expected to increase state aid to the district 2.7 percent over last year, from $10.5 million to $10.8 million.

Property taxes are expected to decrease due to a mill rate reduction on Greendale tax bills this year. That rate is expected to go down from $12.23 per $1,000 of assessed property value in 2010-11 to $11.32 in 2011-12. That translates to approximately $182 less in taxes this year on a home valued at $200,000 in the village.   

Green had this to say regarding the budget, "GSD has weathered the budget storm and has proposed a balanced budget for 2011-2012."

"Like all school districts, Greendale lost state aid and budget authority. GSD has continued to restructure it's operations to meet available resources."

"The district is not laying off teachers- all available resources go to support the classroom. The board, administration and faculty are excited and energized to begin this school year with more flexibility to align operations with 21st century learning concepts."    

Taxpayers will be asked to approve the $14.8 million tax levy to help fund the budget at the District's Annual Meeting on September 19. The budget will be finalized in October when final numbers become available for enrollment, village property values and state aid formulas. 

Patch was unable to reach the Greendale teachers union for comment.