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Palatine CCSD 15 board approves 2026–27 health, dental and vision rates and several consent items
Summary
Trustees approved recommended 2026–27 employee benefit rates—medical increase of 4.2%, dental increase of 9.5%, vision unchanged—and approved personnel recommendations, a pest‑management contract and the final 2025–26 calendar as part of the consent agenda.
The Palatine CCSD 15 Board of Education approved the district’s recommended health, dental and vision insurance rates for fiscal 2026–27 and carried multiple consent items that included personnel appointments and contracts.
District staff reviewed the renewal for the district’s self‑insured plans. Anthony Fichera, director of fiscal services, and Julie Lozada, associate superintendent, said drivers of higher costs include medical and pharmacy inflation, increased specialty‑pharmacy utilization (including GLP‑1 medications), and state‑mandated benefits for infertility and menopause coverage that added roughly 1 percentage point to premiums. Staff reported a recommended stop‑loss vendor change that helped reduce the net proposed medical premium increase; they recommended a 4.2% medical premium increase with no plan design changes, a 9.5% dental premium increase, and no change to vision.
On personnel and other consent items, the board approved the personnel report (administrative, certified and non‑certified staff) and unanimously approved several contracts and calendar items. The board voted to award a three‑year pest management contract to Smithereen Pest Management (Niles, Ill.) for $28,980, and approved the final 2025–26 school calendar. The board also approved a consent‑calendar authorization that includes a proposed engagement with Pulaski Financial to provide municipal advisory services related to a potential large‑scale redevelopment project on the former Arlington Park site; district staff said the cost of specialized municipal advice would be shared with neighboring high‑school districts and used only if the project proceeds.
Why it matters: The insurance decisions affect employee premium rates and district benefit costs; the personnel and contract approvals move hiring and operations items forward without separate board votes. The Pulaski Financial engagement was described as a contingency step to preserve the district’s ability to analyze long‑term fiscal impacts should a major redevelopment proceed.
Board action: The medical/dental/vision rates, personnel report and consent items passed on roll‑call votes (Aye: Khan, Bachmann, Hunt, Ader, Anarino, Taylor).
