Fayette, PEIA develop stopgaps to prevent another break in coverage

Feb. 07--FAYETTEVILLE -- After some Fayette County teachers were denied medical coverage in December, procedures have been put in place to insure a gap in coverage won't occur again.

Fayette County Superintendent Terry George said the district did not receive an invoice for the $155,000 monthly premium, and he did not know there was an issue until an employee contacted him.

Once notified, the county quickly paid the monthly bill.

Sid Fragale, a union representative with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said once the Public Employee Insurance Agency (PEIA) "flipped the switch on employees, they could not go back and undo it easily."

It took a good deal of time for PEIA to notify individual providers.

"There were a lot of providers, and we could not get the word out fast enough. This was a huge fire that no one anticipated," he said. "I've been doing this for 24 years, and I've never see PEIA cut off so many employees all at once."

George said he is unsure how many employees in Fayette were affected.

Mason County school employees experienced a similar cut-off of coverage in December.

Fragale said PEIA has agreed to do a better job notifying employers before cutting off service.

"PEIA will also look at their system and streamline it so we don't have to wait for insurance to be restored," added Fragale. "We were all in this mess together."

George said the county has also created a stopgap measure within the finance department. The department will receive a notification by the 20th of each month if a check to PEIA has not been cut.

Once this notification is received, Fayette County will contact PEIA seeking an invoice, he said.

----A decline in enrollment has had a negative effect on Fayette County's student aid formula -- the number that determines funding the district receives for teachers based on student enrollment.

The county is currently 13 professional positions and 23 service positions over state aid reimbursement, said Personnel Director Margaret Pennington.

The number of professional positions over state formula was lower last year, but loss of student enrollment has decreased the number of teachers the state will pay for.

Pennington said the district will attempt to cut 13 teaching positions and around 12 service personnel positions to keep a handle on costs.

----Representatives from the West Virginia Department of Education were expected to attend the Fayette County Board of Education meeting Monday to present a Memorandum of Understanding to the board.

In January, the State Board of Education voted to return local control to Fayette County Schools expect for facilities and finances related to facilities.

The memorandum is meant to ensure the county's Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan moves forward in a systematic fashion

George said Deputy State Superintendent Dr. Cindy Daniel called and requested the item be pulled from the agenda.

George said he has not yet seen a draft of the memorandum.

Fayette Board Member Patsy Holliday said she was glad the document would not be presented Monday because she does not know what it will entail.

"I hate to adopt something we don't know everything about," she said.

Board Member Steve Slockett said he was disappointed it wasn't presented but hopes the delay means the state will consider granting the board full control.

"Everybody in our county deserves to work with these five people to allow us to do our constitutional duty. You elected us to do it. You felt we were committed and capable of doing it, and we plan on doing it," he said.

-- Email: [email protected]; follow on Twitter @Sarah_E_Plummer

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