Employees enrolled in Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s insurance benefits will see an average $748 increase in health premium costs beginning in January after school board members approved a one-year contract between the school corporation and the Columbus Educators Association.
Because of increased health insurance claims and a slight decrease in enrollment this year, the CEA and the school corporation have worked to find a dollar amount to offset increased premiums and ensure as many staff members as possible would be taking home as much money as they could, school officials said.
The contract approved Tuesday includes an average 2.5% salary increase for about 730 certified teachers under the district’s collective bargaining agreement. Of those 730 teachers, those who have worked for BCSC for two or more years will also receive a $400 stipend intended to offset the cost of the increase health premiums.
“When you say a 2.5% raise, for many of our members, what they’re seeing is because of that increase in health insurance costs, we do have some members who essentially will just be breaking even, who will not be taking home additional dollars in their paycheck next year,” CEA vice president Mandy Keele said in a previous interview.
“Our focus with CEA and working with the administration was to try to make sure we didn’t have them taking home less. Even those that will be taking home more, in many cases it’s not significantly more.”
This year’s salary increase is retroactive to the beginning of the school year, and BCSC officials say they hope to provide the back pay as soon as possible. Health insurance, however, is set by calendar year, so all employees covered by BCSC will see the premiums increase beginning Jan. 1, school officials said.
Chad Phillips, BCSC assistant superintendent, said in an earlier interview that the average dollar amount raise across the 730 teachers is about $1,243 on their base salary. Including the $400 stipend that most of the 730 employees will receive to help with the transition to higher insurance premiums, the average salary increase is $1,594.
Phillips said under the revised premium plan, the district puts in $4 for every $1 that an employee pays toward insurance. When the premiums go up, the district has to make a significant increase, which is why he said the percentage of the education fund budget that is made up of salaries and benefits is now more than 97%.
“We keep having to wedge out everything else just to continue to pay reasonable salary increases to our folks and pay for the skyrocketing costs of health care, not only in our community but across the state and across the country,” Phillips said in a previous interview.
BCSC and CEA officials said earlier that they’re happy with the agreement they’ve reached given the circumstances.
The overall 2020 school corporation budget is estimated at $117 million, a $2 million increase compared to the 2019 budget. This also includes the $71.3 million education fund — 97% of which is going to teacher salaries and benefits — and the operations budget at $19.3 million, a 5.03% increase from this year’s budget. The operations budget accounts for building acquisition, construction and improvements, maintenance, technology and other capital projects.
The district school board held a special public meeting Tuesday to vote on the adoption of the contract. A public hearing was held on Nov. 6 after CEA members voted Nov. 1 to approve the contract. The agreement must be submitted to the state by Friday.
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The following are highlights of the one-year collective bargaining agreement between the Columbus Educators Association and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
- An average 2.5% salary increase for 730 certified teachers under collective bargaining.
- An average $748 increase in employee insurance premium costs for all BCSC employees.
- Of the 730 teachers under collective bargaining, those who have worked for BCSC for two or more years will also receive a $400 stipend.
View the BCSC 2020 Health Plan at bcsc.k12.in.us/Page/15156.
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