Volusia County School employees will see a nearly 6% increase on health insurance

DELAND — Volusia County Schools employees can expect an almost 6% increase in their health insurance rate next year.

Per the April 9 meeting agenda, Superintendent Carmen Balgobin recommended that the board approve the increase starting Oct. 1, 2024, with the addition of the submitted attachment brought before the board.

The motion passed 3-2 with Chair Jamie Haynes, Carl Persis and Jessie Thompson in favor and Anita Burnette and Ruben Colón opposed.

According to the Employee Benefits Renewals Plan for the year of Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, included in the April 9 school board meeting agenda, this approval will result in a 5.9% increase of Florida Health Care insurance.

“I’m glad that the vote wasn’t a 5-0 (vote). Seeing that 3-2 (vote) helped me to feel that at least a couple of the board members were listening to the concerns of the employees,” said Elizabeth Albert, president of Volusia United Educators (VUE) union. “But the fact that initially, this item was put on the consent agenda, so that there was no expectation of any kind of conversation about it unless somebody brought it up — that’s very concerning to me.”

Albert did address the board in a public comment at the meeting and urged members to pull this item from the consent agenda, have a “raucous and high spirited conversation about this insurance renewal,” and vote on it as an action item.

She told The News-Journal that insurance renewal rates are not something that should be passed blindly.

Following Albert’s comment, Burnette requested that the board remove items 13.01 (Approval of Job Description Additions and Revisions) and 13.02 (Health Insurance Rate Increase Beginning October 1, 2024) from the consent agenda so that board members could discuss them publicly. They were voted on separately as standalone, board action items.

“The conversation around the insurance committee has been uncomfortable, and it’s been difficult, and I think it needs to be every year,” Albert said. “I think when we’re faced with a, with an insurance renewal rate that is higher than any raise we’ve had in the last handful of years, we need to have an uncomfortable conversation about why we’re agreeing to this.”

Who is on the insurance committee?

There are eight members on the insurance committee who volunteer to review proposed policies.

There are four bargaining members: two teachers, a clerical member, and Albert. No paraprofessionals were on the committee.

On the other side, there was a human resources representative, an individual from technological services, an administrator and an analyst in student services.

Both hourly and salary employees are represented.

The committee previously included a representative with School Way Café who is on a leave of absence as well as a transportation representative who has since retired. They were replaced with two people who were non-bargaining.

Burnette raised concerns about adequate representation of employees of different income boundaries.

“I just want to make sure that we’re representing all of our employees,” she said.

Colón echoed those concerns, and said he was against the policy because not all units were represented, even if that was not the board’s intent.

“One of the beauties that we’ve always had has been the fact that the insurance committee is a voice for everybody, and I think we missed that mark this time, and that doesn’t mean the outcome may not be the same, but … I think we’re leaving out of the conversation a large group of people, and people that matter,” he said. “I think we’re missing the voice of our employees and that I have a problem with. Again, the outcome may be the same, but I think we didn’t follow our own insurance committee makeup that we knew to be true in bringing this recommendation to us.”

Board members in favor of policies weigh in

In sorting through a handful of options, the insurance committee eventually narrowed its decision to two possibilities. One option had lower deductibles but an 8.1% increase, while the second option required higher deductibles but offered a 5.9% increase. The committee opted for the option that would require less money immediately coming out of employee paychecks with the 5.9% increase.

Persis said he is “very comfortable” with this decision and that none of it comes as a surprise to him.

Haynes explained that even though Volusia County Schools is the largest employer in the county, it is paying for some employees who are “maxing out and far exceeding the expenditures.”

“Trust me, I’m sure they need every penny of that insurance, that they’re facing things that none of us would want to face,” Haynes said. “But this is what I keep being told. Because this is why we are not, we don’t have the bargaining power, even though we’re the largest employer group, in order to bring our amounts down.”

Haynes said that in looking at the top 100 claims from March 2023 through Feb. 2024, the district spent almost $18 million on 100 people: 85 employees, 13 spouses, and two dependents.

Persis said the district needs “fewer claims if you want to have better rates, and we can’t control that.”

Haynes agreed.

Could increase in employee insurance rates hurt retention in Volusia County Schools district?

Albert noted that part of retaining employees is providing them with quality benefits as well as benefits they can afford.

“Right now, the increase to the health insurance that the district offers are outpacing the salary increases,” she said. “So it is probably not the first reason people leave the district, but it’s absolutely one of the reasons that people choose to either go to a different school, district or leave education entirely.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County Schools increases employee health insurance rates 5.9%