School Board Delays Vote On Grievances

Despite spending two hours in executive session Thursday night, the Board of Education took no action on and one by the secretaries union, that alleges union members are paying too much for health insurance.

“We plan to take action at our next regularly scheduled meeting, which is March 22nd,” Superintendent Jerome Belair said. “The board felt it did not have enough information (Thursday night) to take action.”

The teachers union originally filed the grievance on Oct. 17 to Belair, who rejected it. The union alleges that teachers are paying up to $494.56 per year more than they should be paying for health insurance.

The Specifics

On Oct. 17, the teachers union filed a grievance with Belair alleging that the district is charging premium rates for health insurance associated with a fully-insured equivalent rather than an allocation rate associated with the town’s self-insurance model. The self-insurance model should avoid certain fees such as federal taxes, but those fees are still being charged, Teachers Union President Martha Shoemaker said at the time.

The bottom line is teachers have been paying between $178.46 to $494.56 per year more than they should be paying, depending on if the person has an employee plan, a two-person plan or a family plan, according to the grievance. The problem began in July, and is continuing, Shoemaker alleges.

The union is seeking retroactive pay for the amount taken out since July and the future amount corrected for the rest year. There are approximately 260 teachers in the union.

The Timeline

Belair rejected the grievance on Nov. 17 because of a technicality and because he said the grievance had no merit. In response, the teachers union brought the grievance to the next step, filing it with the Board of Education in December.

On Dec. 19, the education board met for 45 minutes in closed session about the grievance. They originally agreed to act on the grievance by Jan. 30, but that has been pushed back, Belair said.

"We mutually agreed to extend the deadline," Belair said.

Earlier this year, the secretaries union filed the exact same grievance. The board should act on both grievances on March 22, Belair said.

“Our goal is to work with (the unions),” Belair said.