Superintendent: health-insurance quotes spike 32.4%, schools model personnel cuts to meet 3% target

Phil Stevens, superintendent of schools, told the Board of Finance that the Board of Education will hold a special budget workshop to model what a move to a 3% increase would look like and to examine options if health-insurance costs remain high.

Stevens said the district had budgeted for a 10% insurance increase but the bids returned at 32.4%, an increase he calculated at roughly $197,000 that is not yet reflected in the Board of Education's line items. He said the board and administration are preparing scenarios for the March 17 special meeting "to see what it would look like for the Board of Education to move from their current percentage down to 3%," and that some staffing scenarios being modeled could involve eliminating between eight and 11 positions, although he said neither the board nor the administration is proposing those cuts as policy.

Stevens said the district has gone out to bid and is hoping for a lower renewal quote before the next public meeting. He told the finance board he would share the results at the Board of Finance meeting on the following Thursday.

Board of Finance members pressed for clarifying detail on the timing and the budget impact, noting that the town has little new revenue expected this year and that the town's mill-rate increase will depend on how the school adjustments and insurance outcome arrive. Members said they expect the insurance number to be finalized when all bids are received and reviewed and that they will need to fold any confirmed increase into the town's overall budget math before adoption.

The board did not take formal action on the insurance figure during the meeting; members made clear they expected further detailed scenarios from Stevens at the upcoming school and finance meetings.

The Board of Education special budget meeting Stevens referenced was scheduled to review scenarios before the next Board of Finance deliberations.