Employees tell Milpitas Unified board health‑insurance spikes are damaging retention

Scores of district employees and union leaders used the Jan. 13 public‑comment period to press the Milpitas Unified Board of Education to address recent health‑insurance premium increases and the district’s compensation priorities.

"This year, my insurance cost is going to increase by $500 a month. That's $5,000 a year," said paraeducator and employee Susan Thomas, describing family medical needs that make lower‑cost plans impractical. Several speakers gave similar personal examples: Halley Spanagal, a 28‑year teacher, said she is the household’s sole earner with a spouse unable to work and that the increase would threaten her family’s health access; MTA negotiator Brett Weber said members are seeing net take‑home‑pay losses when healthcare increases are added to modest cost‑of‑living adjustments.

Union and staff comments called on the board to prioritize classroom staff compensation over central office growth, citing increases in district office positions and the cumulative effect of rising costs of living and healthcare. "We need to put our teachers first in the budget," said Brett Weber, representing the Milpitas Teachers Association.

Speakers also described cumulative financial pressure from housing and childcare costs and urged that any cost‑of‑living increases be larger than 1% to keep pace with the Bay Area economy. Several employees urged the board to explore more aggressive bargaining positions, to protect the "employee plus one" coverage many rely on, and to consider the human impacts of benefit decisions.

What happens next: union negotiators said bargaining is ongoing and asked the board to weigh compensation priorities during budget planning; trustees acknowledged the public comments and said they would share the concerns with the superintendent and staff.