Superior School Board approves move to narrow network health insurance [Superior Telegram, Wis.]

Apr. 11—SUPERIOR — The Superior School Board approved changes to employee health insurance for the 2024-25 year, but stopped short of stripping the option to stay on the district's health and dental insurance from retirees.

Effective July 1, the district will change its health insurance provider to Medica and offer a narrow network plan, Medica ACO — Essentia. The move, approved during the Monday, April 8, regular meeting is expected to save the district nearly $900,000 in 2024-25.

The district seeks to meet a projected

$4.5 million budget deficit in 2024-25.

The proposed insurance change comes after 25 teachers, two administrators and 40 support staff have been given nonrenewal notices,

District Administrator Amy Starzecki told the board

at the April 1 committee of the whole meeting.

Most employees use Essentia, according to Director of Business Services David See. He told board members April 1 that 78% of patient visits under the district plan were at Essentia, 18% to St. Luke's, 0.5% to Mayo Clinic and 2.3% to seven other medical providers.

Board members said it was a tough decision, but they had to go with their heads, not their hearts.

"Lots of emails from families that go to St. Luke's and it's — it's hard to read all their stories," said board member Nicholas Olson. "So I make the motion with a heavy heart doing that because looking at the alternative and trying to find $900,000 elsewhere is almost impossible. That's 15 to 20 teachers we'd have to cut; that's innumerable amount of programs or athletics or fill in the blank. And I just don't see where we can make a similar decision with that effect."

Board member Brooke Taylor called it a horrible decision.

"I want to thank everybody for being so vulnerable in their emails and sharing their personal stories," she said. "And I think that's what makes this even more difficult, realizing that you're affecting the lives and families — families' lives."

But, she said, the district still has millions of dollars to cut.

"This sucks, there's no other way to put it," Board Vice President Ed Gallagher said. "I'll be frank there. In part of numerous major decisions on this board, each one has been worse than the next it feels like."

Board member Nick Schumacher abstained from voting because his wife is a teacher and takes district health insurance. The move will affect his family, including his children, who have gone to the same St. Luke's pediatrician since they were born.

"This is really the only option I see from my perspective as well," Schumacher said.

A motion to remove retirees from the option of staying on the district's health and dental insurance, which would have netted the district roughly $280,000 in savings starting two years from now, did not pass. Instead, the motion was amended to keep retirees on the district's health and dental insurance.

It's something board members said they will continue to consider.

"I think it's going to happen in the future, but I think all of us feel like this happened suddenly, and there was no time to digest any kind of plan moving forward," Olson said.

"I'm not convinced we would save enough to justify taking away the retirees' insurance at this point," Taylor said.

In other action, the board approved a revised graduation requirements policy for students graduating in 2027 and beyond. The policy incorporates the

new state requirement for half a credit personal financial literacy course

and moves the state-mandated half credit of health, which must be taught between grades 7 and 12, from seventh grade to 10th.

The number of required social studies credits was reduced from four to three. Superior students will need to accumulate 23 credits in high school to graduate.

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