A decision made by the Calcasieu Parish School Board ensured that teachers and staff would not see an insurance premium increase this year. This action did not come without community pressure.

At the CPSB meeting on Monday, the board unanimously voted to absorb a 4.8 percent insurance premium increase for May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025.

In the past two years, employee premiums have seen increases. Last year, the increase was 5.17 percent with high option plan changes. For the 2022-23 school year, premiums increased by 12.45 percent with slight high option plan changes.

Steeper increases haven’t always been the norm. Previous years – 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22 – saw no increases; Two of those years had premium holidays. Jay Bergeron, risk manager, CPSB, said there have been premium increases three years in a row because employee medical claims have been exceeding the revenue pool that is used to pay claims.

CPSB is a self-insured group. With this structure, the school board and participating employees are responsible for paying all of the medical and pharmacy claims made by insured employees, spouses and dependents. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana does not financially contribute, and only processes the claims.

The school board provides 62 percent of the funding revenue for health insurance, and participating members cover the remaining 38 percent.

The employee benefits for the 2024-25 school year were originally discussed at the CPSB Employee Benefits Committee at the beginning of this month. A 13-1 vote approved the 4.8 percent increase for the 2024-25 renewal for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana Medical plan. Board Member Tony O’Banion, District 10, made a motion to absorb the increase to ensure a $0 dollar change in insurance premiums for staff. This motion was seconded by Boardmember, Phyllis Ayo, District 11, but the amendment ultimately failed with a vote of 3-11.

This decision garnered controversy among faculty, staff and community members alike prior to the CPSB meeting on Monday. Many commented on a now viral FaceBook post that the premium increase would lead to a reduction in take-home pay; The 4.8 percent premium increase is greater than the annual pay increase that CPSB faculty and staff receive.

The overall message of the teachers that spoke was “It’s so much more than 4.8 percent.” That is what one Sulphur teacher said. She explained that she and her peers are experiencing “overwhelming” anger and frustration at apathy from the board regarding employee benefits and salary.

“Every single day I go and I do a job that I love… I don’t see an ounce of that from any of you. None of you. … It is harder and harder to swallow the degradation that I feel by the choices that are constantly made by people that clearly don’t care, don’t understand what they’re talking about… or have not actually read the information that is in front of them.”

Dustin Royer, teacher at DeQuincy High School said that teachers are leaving the district because they cannot make a livable wage, stating “I cannot continue doing the same job for less money.”

“When we have teachers working for our system whose step increase does not cover their insurance premium increases, which results in their take home pay going down year over year, that position is unsustainable.”

Ayo thanked the teachers that came out to speak at the meeting, noted that she received hundreds of emails from constituents concerned about the premium increase.

“There were many, many, many. I can tell you I had a lump in my throat. … I knew it was bad, but to hear it from my people … my heart hurts. I took this job to make a difference, and I’m going to do that.”

O’Banion made a motion at the Monday meeting to amend the committee report and absorb the 2024-25 premium increase. This amendment was unanimously approved.

He also stated that he wants the Board to take the next year to explore “every possible option” in regards to employee benefits.

“I don’t have all of the answers, nobody does. We can’t give an across the board raise right now, but I think we can do this.”

Other Employee Benefit Committee Recommendations

The board approved three other recommendations from the CPSB Employee Benefits Committee.

The committee recommended that CPSB move the Express Scripts – a pharmacy benefit management organization – contract to Crumdale instead of Blue Cross Blue Shield. This move will save the plan 6.8 percent or $3.36 million. This decision adjusted the overall premium increase for the renewal in May from 11.3 percent to 4.8 percent — the amount that will be absorbed by the board.

All insurance members will receive new cards after the renewal. One will be a Blue Cross card for medical insurance and one will be an Express Scripts card for pharmacy.

The committee recommended that CPSB move dental insurance from MetLife to Humana; Humana offered a two year rate guarantee with a third year eight percent rate cap. Dental premiums are now $35.35 for employee only and $89.84 for employee and family.

The committee also requested a presentation of an additional high deductible plan offering for staff that meets the health savings account criteria” in Fall 2024 as a mid-year review. The recommendation was unanimously accepted by the Board.