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:
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