A fire destroyed two second-grade classrooms within a portable building at Camino Real Elementary in the Hays school district.

The fire likely was started about 11 p.m. Monday night by an electrical or mechanical failure of an air conditioning unit, thought fire officials still are investigating, said Tim Savoy, Hays district spokesman. No one was injured.

Students had returned to school for the Hays district's first day last Thursday. The second-graders in the two classrooms were moved to the main building.

"It's not the way you want to start a new year, but we're very grateful no one was injured hurt or were in the building at the time," Savoy said. "All the things can be replaced but people cannot be so we're counting our blessings."

Damages to the portable building, which had a classroom on each side and was equipped with full bathrooms, are estimated between $200,000 and $250,000. The district's insurance will cover the costs, but teachers' decorations and personal items, as well as the students' supplies they brought to school aren't covered, he said.

Donations of cash, checks or gift cards can made out to the school Camino Real Elementary PTA to help replace those supplies.

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BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Symetra Life Insurance Company today announced that its full suite of workforce benefits products — including group life and AD&D, group disability, and group supplemental health — is now integrated into PlanSource, a leading benefits administration technology and services company. This partnership gives employers already managing benefits through PlanSource a direct path to Symetra's products — making it simpler for HR teams to offer them and for employees to enroll.

“We've built a robust workforce benefits portfolio, and we want employers to be able to access it without adding complexity to their operations,” said Ravi Agadi, VP, Platform Partnerships & Strategy, Benefits Division at Symetra. “This integration means our group life, disability, and supplemental health products are now available where thousands of employers are already managing benefits — with the real-time connectivity and dedicated service that brokers and HR teams expect from Symetra.”

As part of the integration, a dedicated PlanSource team manages all plan configuration and ongoing administration on behalf of Symetra customers, reducing steps for HR teams. For brokers and consultants recommending Symetra products, this means working with a carrier partner that owns the implementation and administration experience end to end.

“Partnerships like this — built on deep connectivity, elevate the experience across the ecosystem, delivering greater value to the employees, employers and brokers we collectively serve,” said Josh Johnson, SVP of Strategic Partnerships at PlanSource. “Symetra didn't just connect with PlanSource — they built a dedicated team and a service model around it. That kind of commitment is what makes the difference between a carrier being on a platform and a carrier truly working inside it.”

Through this partnership, Symetra's integration with PlanSource includes:

• Plan build and configuration support—Symetra’s dedicated team ensures workforce benefits plan setup details are built efficiently and accurately.
  

• Simplified enrollment—Employee eligibility data for benefits enrollment is transferred automatically and securely.

• Integrated evidence of insurability (EOI)—Employees seamlessly apply with single sign-on, while HR teams receive real-time decision updates in their account.

• Integrated decision support—Empowers employees to feel confident about their elections with personalized options.

• Automated self-bill reports—Automatically generate self-bill reports with real-time premium and coverage data pulled directly from PlanSource.

To learn more about Symetra’s PlanSource partnership and how it delivers simplified workforce benefits administration, visit https://www.symetra.com/plansource/.

About Symetra

Symetra Life Insurance Company is a subsidiary of Symetra Financial Corporation, a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue, Washington. In business since 1957, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent financial professionals and insurance producers. For more information, visit www.symetra.com.

About PlanSource

PlanSource is a benefits administration technology and services company that is on a mission to make it easier for people to choose, use, and manage benefits through engaging, AI-powered experiences. PlanSource solves even the most complex benefits challenges for thousands of customers by pairing a comprehensive suite of strategic administration services with a modern and highly configurable platform. Leading the market in meaningful integration of AI, PlanSource has an unmatched range of ecosystem connections that drive continual innovation and value to clients, partners, and consumers. Learn more at plansource.com.

PlanSource is not affiliated with Symetra Life Insurance Company or any of its affiliates.

Copyright © 2004 - 2026 Symetra Life Insurance Company, 777 108th Ave NE, Suite 1200, Bellevue, WA 98004. All rights reserved. Symetra® is a registered service mark of Symetra Life Insurance Company.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623349440/en/

Diana McSweeney


(425) 256-6167


[email protected]

Source: Symetra Life Insurance Company