Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Employee Benefits topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Prescott Unified board approves joining ASBA Insurance Trust and revises FY26 budget to raise staff pay to 3%
Summary
The Prescott Unified School District board voted to join the Arizona School Boards Association Insurance Trust (ASBATES), citing a roughly $218,000 projected annual cost difference that administrators said would allow a modest increase in the planned FY26 staff raise from 2.5% to 3.0%. The board adopted the revised budget package after discussion about provider networks and employee impacts.
The Prescott Unified School District governing board voted Wednesday to join the Arizona School Boards Association Insurance Trust (ASBATES) and to adopt a revised fiscal year 2025–26 budget package that increases the proposed employee raise to 3.0 percent.
Brian Moore, the district’s chief financial officer, told the board ASBATES’ underwriting for next year came in at a lower cost than the district’s incumbent pool. “Their quote for next year was lower by 22.2% than what Kairos was for this year,” Moore said, summarizing the district’s side-by-side underwriting and network analysis. Administrators and the CFO said the underwriting difference would produce roughly a $218,000 annual change in district health-care costs compared with remaining with the current provider.
The administration proposed using most of those savings to increase the staff raise from the 2.5 percent figure the board previously approved in March to 3.0 percent, while holding approximately $159,000 in contingency to address future uncertainties. The revised FY26 budget package (“proposed budget package, revision 1”) passed by voice vote.
Board discussion focused on three practical points: whether Aetna (ASBATES’ network administrator) is sufficiently accepted by local clinicians, how deductible and copay differences would affect employees and dependents, and whether retiree coverage treated by the two pools would produce downstream cost shifts. Moore and other administrators walked through differences in deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, co-payment amounts, and the district’s approach to HSA contributions under high-deductible plans. They also flagged a separate concern about dental-network coverage and said they would seek a supplemental Delta Dental quote to compare options for employees currently served mostly by Delta Dental providers.
Board president and members acknowledged the customer-service record the district has with its current vendor, and several trustees said they weighed the financial gains against the risk of service transition issues. Supporters said the net fiscal savings are material and could be redirected to employee compensation and classroom priorities; opponents and cautious members urged careful transition planning and clear employee communications.
The board approved a resolution to join ASBATES by voice vote (no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript). It then approved the revised FY26 budget package, which incorporates the projected insurance savings and the 3.0 percent compensation adjustment. The district plans to provide staff with information on specific plan options, network coverage and potential changes to employee premiums and HSA contributions before open enrollment and implementation.
What comes next: Administration will finalize contract paperwork, complete member enrollment with ASBATES if underwriters and legal review conclude as presented, and distribute enrollment materials to employees. The district also said it will obtain an updated dental quote and provide employee-facing comparisons before the benefit election period.
