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Arlington School District reviews unemployment insurance pool; finance director says membership saved district money
Summary
Board heard an annual report on the district’s membership in a regional unemployment compensation pool, including estimated lifetime savings, recent years’ claims and assessments, and that the pool is audited by the state auditor.
The Arlington Public Schools board on Monday received its annual review of the district’s unemployment compensation program and heard that membership in a regional risk pool has produced multi‑year savings compared with paying into the state unemployment fund.
Gina Zuchenhorst, Executive Director of Financial Services, told the board the district has participated in the public‑entity unemployment pool administered through Northwest Educational Service District (ESD) 189 since 1978 and that membership spreads claims among participating districts across Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.
"It is a public entity risk pool for the purposes of unemployment insurance," Zuchenhorst said. She said claims for eligible employees are paid by the Employment Security Department and then the ESD pool reimburses those payments and bills participating districts according to the pool’s actuarial model. She also said the pool is audited by the Washington State Auditor’s Office and actuarial insolvency assessments are provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Zuchenhorst gave figures from the pool reports attached to the board packet. She said Arlington’s net estimated savings since joining the pool is about $1.79 million. The district’s favorable experience as of Aug. 31, 2024, was reported at $466,555. For the 2023–24 year she said the pool paid $44,189 on Arlington’s behalf; the district’s assessment for 2023–24 was reported as $18,463 and the assessment for 2024–25 as $18,999. Zuchenhorst said an estimated contribution if the district paid directly into the state fund would have been roughly $2.6 million (as reported in the pool materials).
Board members asked for clarifying detail about year‑to‑year variation in claims. Zuchenhorst said claims vary with the number and duration of eligible unemployment claims and noted the spike in 2020 reflected the national disruption tied to the COVID‑19 period.
No action was required; the item was presented as the board’s annual review of the district’s unemployment compensation program.
The meeting later recessed to an executive session to review the performance of an employee; the board said no final action would be taken in executive session.
