School health plan disagreement

Budget process moves forward

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — Some teachers who work for the Monticello Central School District are going to be paying more for family plan insurance in the new school year. The question is: were they paying as much as they were supposed to for the past decade?

Superintendent Dr. Patrick Michel said in a phone interview that they were. He said a contract negotiated with the Monticello Teachers Organization in 1999 specified that all teachers were entitled to a single-person policy, which the district would pay for entirely. Teachers who chose the family plan, on the other hand, were required to pay 10 percent of the difference of the cost of the two plans.

However, when the current contract was negotiated, which was signed last month, the payment required from a teacher for the family plan was 10 percent of the total cost, not 10 percent of the difference between the two plans.

Others in the school district disagree with Michel’s assessment of the situation, and say that the teachers were supposed to be paying 10 percent of the total cost of the family plan for the entire 10 years, and thus the school district has lost a great deal of money.

Two people, who asked to remain anonymous, said they based their assumptions in part on emails exchanged between Dan Berger, the president of the teachers union and Gladys Baxter, the assistant superintendent, on March 9.

Baxter wrote, “At the time of negotiation in 1999 and forward, the district team was consistent in their interpretation of the 10 percent. This resulted in a benefit to your membership for all of these years.” She also wrote, “we’re moving forward,” indicating that the district would not try to collect past payment.

Berger emailed a response to Baxter and copied the membership, and said, “There has been no change in the contribution for family coverage. The change is not in the contractual obligation of our members, but in the district deducting it,” indicating that the district has not collected the right amount for the past decade.

The issue is likely to come up at the board meeting on March 18, when the board will also be hearing about possible scenarios for the budget for next year. These will include options of raising taxes by four, six or eight percent. Michel said that if the board chooses either the four or six percent option, it will mean the closing of at least one of the four elementary schools in the system.

Many residents in the district believe that if a school is closed, it will be the Cornelius Duggan Elementary School in White Lake.