Livingston Parish School Board approves teacher stipends and a 5% employee insurance premium increase

The Livingston Parish School Board on Oct. 2025 approved teacher-effectiveness stipends and a differentiated compensation plan and voted to raise the district—s share of employee health-insurance premiums by 5% effective Jan. 1, 2026.

The Budget and Goals Committee report was read to the full board and presented for approval. Business manager Ashley Amy told the committee that "this year's premium increase is 7.7%." The committee report said premiums have risen by approximately 25% since February 2023 and that those increases have cost the district about $4,100,000.

The committee recommended acceptance of the teacher effectiveness stipends and the 2025-26 differentiated compensation stipend plan; the committee vote was unanimous and the report was presented to the full board for approval. The board voted to accept the committee report and its recommendations.

On employee health coverage, the committee recorded a motion to raise the district-paid portion of premiums by 5% beginning Jan. 1, 2026. The report states the 5% increase would raise district costs by $487,000 and produce a projected total annual cost of $2,700,000 for the district—s contribution to employee health coverage. The committee motion was made and seconded at the committee meeting and was presented to the full board for approval; the board approved the committee—s action.

Discussion summary: committee members and staff discussed both the stipend plan and the health-insurance numbers during the Budget and Goals Committee meeting held Sept. 30, 2025. Business manager Ashley Amy provided the carrier increase figure and the committee reviewed historical premium increases and the district—s cumulative cost since February 2023. The board did not record roll-call vote tallies in the minutes excerpt presented; the committee and the full board reported unanimous approval in the meeting record.

What the approvals mean: the stipend plan as presented will move forward for district implementation as described in the committee report; the 5% premium increase is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2026. The committee report did not include line-by-line stipend amounts in the excerpt read to the board; the text presented to the board indicated the stipend plan was discussed in committee and then recommended for full-board approval.

Next steps and context: the committee noted ongoing cost pressure from health-insurance carriers and the cumulative fiscal effect since early 2023. The board did not specify further implementation tasks or follow-up reporting dates in the excerpt presented during the meeting.

Quotes "This year's premium increase is 7.7%," Ashley Amy, business manager, told the committee.

Ending The approved stipend plan and the insurance-premium adjustment will be reflected in the district budget and staff communications; the premium increase is scheduled to be effective Jan. 1, 2026, per the committee report presented to the board.