District negotiators reported progress on collective bargaining and briefed the board on planned salary and health‑insurance changes included in the drafts.

What staff presented: Miss Chris Foley, who led the staff negotiation briefing, said the district and Indian River County Education Association used interest‑based bargaining to reach updates to the collective bargaining agreement. The contract consolidates prior retention and percentage‑increase structures into a single pay‑for‑performance payment: staff said the new schedule will pay $1,500 for annually highly effective teachers and $1,200 for PSC‑rated highly effective performance (the contract text replaces numerous prior retention and percentage structures with a single performance payment schedule).

Health insurance increase: Mr. Green told the board that the district's health insurance advisory task force recommended an 18.5% premium increase for the coming plan year after an unusual number of high‑cost claims. He said the plan had experienced 25 claims over $125,000 and seven claims over $250,000 in the rolling period presented. "We had 25 large claims over 125,000, and we've had 7 large claims over 250,000," Mr. Green said, and added the recommended increase is intended to align plan revenues to plan expenditures.

How the increase would affect employees and the board: Mr. Green gave example monthly increases across plan tiers, saying employee monthly contributions would change by amounts ranging from about $6 to roughly $196 depending on the selected plan; he said the district's monthly board contribution would rise from $7.47 to $8.85 per plan (the presentation linked the change to roughly $2.6 million in increased plan revenue). Mr. Green noted stop‑loss coverage and other mitigation options are being examined.

Board reaction and next steps: Several trustees expressed concern about long‑term sustainability of double‑digit premium increases and asked staff to pursue program design changes or consortium options to lower future rate pressure. Trustee Dr. Posca explicitly urged a forensic‑style review or an efficiency audit; trustees asked for cost estimates before directing a formal outside review. No contract or rate was adopted at the workshop; staff told trustees those items will appear for board action on the regular agenda.

Ending: Staff said they will bring final contract language and the health plan rate recommendations to the board for action and continue to explore mitigation options including stop‑loss design, prescription management and consortium purchasing.