Administrators tell board they will equalize health benefits for year‑round hourly staff

District administrators informed the board on July 29 that a subgroup of year‑round hourly employees had been receiving single-subscriber medical benefits while a comparable group received full-family coverage under prior arrangements.

Superintendent-level staff said the discrepancy traced back to a former bargaining agreement and occurred for maintenance and some support staff who had been treated differently from central-office support employees. Administrators described two options: standardize everyone to single-subscriber benefits or extend full-family coverage to the affected hourly staff; they indicated a preference for the latter as "the right thing to do," and said they were running cost models to determine feasibility.

Administrators reported reviewing neighboring districts and found that comparable positions were typically offered full‑family benefits, and they noted the change will be an expense the district will absorb while making other financial adjustments. The board asked about the number of people affected; administrators said the group initially numbered six maintenance staff and several central-office support staff when the error was first identified, and that the group later expanded after bringing caretakers in-house.

The board did not take a formal vote at the meeting but directed administration to continue evaluation and to bring a recommendation and cost analysis to a future meeting.