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The 2019-2020 school year is off to an excellent start! Your efforts and ability to effectively educate students is incredible. It's amazing how everyone comes together to educate nearly 5,000 students on a daily basis. Thank you for everything you do!  On Saturday, August 17 a block party and ribbon cutting marked the official opening of the Farview Library and Food Pantry. I couldn't be more pleased with the event and more importantly with the partnership the Fort Osage School District has formed with Mid-Continent Public Library and Community Services League. Hundreds of families now have access to library services and a food pantry. This has already made an impact on families in our school district. Stop by sometime during their hours of operation to see the renovated space. The hours are as follows: Library- Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Food Pantry- Wednesdays 10:00 am to 2:00 pm   The Fort Osage School District understands the importance of quality health insurance for its employees. We continue to be committed to ensuring that quality coverage is offered to our employees and are pleased that our HSA contributions continue to among the highest in the metro.
Much work has gone into making an informed decision regarding an insurance provider beginning January 1, 2020 including a discussion with Team Fort Osage described in the article below. If you are on the District's health insurance plan and haven't already taken the survey that was sent out on August, 29 please click here to take the survey by Tuesday, September 3 at 3:00 pm. After all the information is assessed a recommendation will be made to the board of education at the September 10 meeting. Team Fort Osage is a committee of Fort Osage staff comprised of 16 members (8 certificated and 8 classified) that provides feedback to me regarding salary, insurance, the calendar and other employee-related District matters. I met with the committee for the first time this school year on August 22.
The following information was discussed with Team Fort Osage regarding the budget: Many of you heard in the news or may be experiencing yourselves, that there have been steep increases to assessed property values in Jackson County. People may think that this will lead to a significant increase for the District’s operating revenues. Due to the Hancock Amendment, districts must roll back their operating levy to offset the increase in property values. This will lead to our District reducing the operating levy by as much as 30 cents. Although Fort Osage will receive an increase in county tax revenue, the expected increase in our operating budget is modest -- less than the cost of steps and movement on the salary schedules. The following information was discussed with Team Fort Osage regarding insurance: -Providing quality health insurance continues to be a priority of Fort Osage School District. -According to our insurance broker, CBIZ, Fort’s insurance plans are among the best in the metro. For our two high deductible plans, Fort Osage contributes more money to HSA accounts than most districts. Some area districts contribute $0 to employee HSA accounts. -The District asked for bids from health insurance providers for our January 1, 2020 renewal. -The District’s claims loss ratio is currently 124%. This means that for every dollar the District pays in premiums $1.24 is being expended by Humana due to our claims. This leads to an increase in premiums. -The following insurance companies submitted bids reflecting the proposed overall increased rates shown below: Blue Cross Blue Shield 36%, Aetna 22%, Humana 13%, Cigna 7% with a side fund that will allow a portion of the premium paid to be used as a buy down for the following year’s premium. This could result in a more favorable increase for employees in 2021. -Based on the proposed bids, Team Fort Osage discussed the pros and cons of staying with Humana versus moving to Cigna. -CBIZ confirmed that the top 25 care physicians and top 25 specialists used by our staff today are all participating providers with Cigna. Cigna also has all KC area hospitals in their network. -In the current budget the District’s contribution will be $581.30 toward each eligible employee’s health insurance. A higher percent increase will result in higher premiums and a lower District HSA contribution. -The high deductible plan designs for Humana and Cigna would be the same. The District’s HSA contribution for Cigna would be more per month as compared to Humana due to Cigna’s lower increase in premium. -Due to the PPO premium increase for Humana and Cigna, the PPO deductibles may change in order to help employees with the increased cost. -The wellness plan of each provider was discussed. -After the results of the staff survey are reviewed, all the information will be assessed and a recommendation will be made to the board of education at the September 10 meeting. The following information was discussed with Team Fort Osage regarding the 2020-2021 school calendar: Due to HB 161, beginning in 2020 school districts are not allowed to begin student attendance days more than 14 days before Labor Day. In order to comply with this law Fort Osage must move the scheduled start date three days later to begin school no sooner than August 24th. Team Fort Osage discussed a variety of options for the calendar including:
Fort Osage School District is excited to celebrate Homecoming week September 23-27, 2019. In order to promote school pride, all of our schools and the community are invited to participate in spirit days. The activities schedule and spirit days are listed below.
Monday- Class Color Day-If you don’t have a class color just wear red and white Tuesday-Dress up as your favorite Movie Character Day Wednesday-Red Carpet Day- Wear your best attire Thursday-Indian Pride Day- Show your Indian spirit Join in the fun and submit your photos to ssmith@fortosage.net by 5:00 p.m. each day and look for our daily photo album at 7:00 p.m. on the District's Facebook page. Come support our student athletes this week as they compete! September 23 Osage Trail Middle School Cross Country meet at Brittany Hill Middle School 4:00 p.m. FOHS Boys Soccer at Belton High School C Team 4:00 p.m., JV at 5:00 p.m. and Varsity at 6:30 p.m. FOHS Softball vs Belton at Fort Osage 4:00 p.m. FOHS Girls Tennis at North Kansas City High School 4:00 p.m. Osage Trail Middle School volleyball at Osage Trail 4:00 p.m. September 24 FOHS Softball at Oak Park High School 4:00 p.m. FOHS Boys soccer at Fort Osage District Stadium JV at 4:00 p.m. and varsity 6:30 p.m. FOHS Volleyball at William Chrisman C team at 4:00 p.m., JV at 5:30 p.m., Varsity at 7:00 p.m. September 25 FOHS Girls Golf at Drumm Farm 3:00 p.m. OTMS Cross Country at Bridger Middle School 4:00 p.m. FOHS Girls tennis at Raymore-Peculiar High School 4:00 p.m. OTMS Volleyball at Pioneer Ridge Middle School 4:00 p.m. September 26 FOHS Cross Country Meet at Swope Park 2:00 p.m. FOHS Girls golf at Raytown 3:00 p.m. FOHS Boys soccer at Fort Osage District Stadium 4:00 p.m. FOHS Girls tennis at Raymore-Peculiar High School 4:00 p.m. FOHS Softball at Raytown High School starting at 5:00 p.m. FOHS Volleyball at Fort Osage starting at 5:30 p.m. September 27 FOHS Softball Tournament at Liberty High School FOHS Football game at Fort Osage District Stadium 7:00 p.m.  Located at 26911 E US Hwy 24, Buckner, the JBZ's Rockin' B Mercantile continues to be an outstanding supporter of the Fort Osage School District. With their proceeds they have donated money for students in need as well as gift cards for new teachers.
A $25.00 gift card to Rockin' B will be given away to one lucky winner utilizing the RNG. For those of you interested, please send an email to jsnodgrass@fortosage.net with ‘Coffee' in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until 8:00 am on Tuesday, September 3. Give Away prizes are not purchased with District funds. Only Fort Osage employees are eligible to enter the drawing. |
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