Highlands school board reviews Fleet trust, brokers and pharmacy savings at insurance workshop

Highlands County School board members and their insurance committee spent a workshop examining options to reduce employee health‑benefit costs, including joining the Florida Educators Health Trust (known as Fleet), hiring a broker or consultant, and pursuing pharmacy and stop‑loss procurement strategies. The meeting included presentations from Mike Swindle, superintendent of Hendry County Schools; Kathy Gordon of Cyber Insurance Consultants; Darren Bridal (Avail/Fleet); and internal staff including Deputy Superintendent Andrew Lethbridge.

Board and committee members said they want clearer, district‑specific cost comparisons before committing to a path. Deputy Superintendent Andrew Lethbridge said the meeting was meant as a learning session and promised to circulate the materials shown at the earlier Fleet presentation. Lethbridge also told the committee he would arrange distribution of the Fleet pharmacy and stop‑loss projections so the insurance committee can review the numbers directly.

Why it matters: Highlands is already self‑insured and faces choices that could affect annual premiums, pharmacy costs and the district’s insurance reserve. Fleet is structured as a statewide educators’ trust that aggregates members to gain buying power on pharmacy and stop‑loss placements; joining would start a process of comparative forecasting. Fleet representatives said a signed participation agreement is typically required for Fleet to run the full actuarial and procurement modeling that would show Highlands’ potential savings.

Most important points from presenters

Mike Swindle, superintendent of Hendry County Schools, described his district’s recent shift from fully insured to self‑insured coverage and subsequent financial results. Swindle said Hendry moved to…