Finance director reports reserves and rising insurance costs; board set to review GrowWell employee-clinic proposal

Jessica Nolan, the district finance director, gave the board an overview of the district's fiscal position and brought forward a proposal for an employee health clinic vendor the district is considering.

Nolan said the district has grown interest income from investments and that, as of February, interest earnings had increased to nearly $1.2 million for the fiscal year so far. Nolan reported the district's health-insurance reserve had been rebuilt to about $2.89 million and said those reserves meet common guidance (roughly two months of claims) for contingency.

Nolan identified fiscal risks the district is monitoring: declining enrollment (she estimated an average per-student funding value of about $8,300 based on FY24 data), rising property-and-casualty insurance costs due to a change in carriers, and ongoing uncertainty in federal funds (district received approximately $14 million in federal funds in FY24, about $3.3 million of which was ESSER).

Nolan presented a vendor proposal from GrowWell for an employee clinic. Under the proposed timeline, the board would see a first read at the next meeting and could vote May 5; staff would then begin marketing and on-boarding to drive utilization before a full contract-year launch. Nolan said the district's modeled break-even assumes roughly 50% utilization in year one; she described the district's projected cost to enroll in the vendor program (staff presented an estimated figure and characterized it as the up-front cost for year one) and said that if office-visit utilization reaches the modeled level the district would roughly break even on the first-year contract costs. Nolan provided line-item examples of projected savings categories the vendor expects to affect (non-surgical work-comp visits, labs, ER visits, telehealth substitution) and said some counseling and behavioral-health services might reduce use of the district's current EAP spend.

Board members asked detailed questions about contractual terms, utilization assumptions and the district's ability to use its health reserves if utilization lags; Nolan said she would recommend a trial approach and said the district's rebuilt reserves provide capacity for a measured initial implementation. Nolan also said the vendor would provide school-site outreach and marketing at employee in-service events to drive adoption.

Nolan also reviewed several other capital and operating items: proposals to purchase additional iPads or to consider laptops/Chromebooks for secondary grades; two options for transportation fuel supply (district-owned tanks versus contracted fuel supply through a private vendor); a summary of the district's ESOL and CTE funding strategies used to increase state funding weightings; and reminders about long-range capital priorities.

Ending: Nolan will return a first-read contract and schedule for GrowWell and has asked the board to consider the proposal at an upcoming meeting after staff vetting and continued modeling.