A ranking of salary and insurance for school district employees across the state shows Hamilton County’s insurance cost has skyrocketed 50 spots in five years.
Insurance for Hamilton County Schools employees cost $5,057.60 in 2004 and jumped to $9,652.90 last year, according to the Information for the Basic Education Program committee report. Meanwhile, the average salary for school employees went down relative to other school systems across the state, the report shows.
In 2004, the average salary in Hamilton County was $40,396.67. It was $45,292.14 in 2009 – down two spots to 17th in the state, the report shows.
“We went the wrong way on salary,” said Tommy Kranz, Hamilton County Schools’ chief financial officer.
The Information for the Basic Education Program committee report is submitted to the state comptroller’s office by the Tennessee Education Association. All of the association’s data is self-reported by the individual school systems.
Health insurance for public school system employees is a hot topic right now in Hamilton County, as members of the teachers’ association and the school system have been negotiating changes to employee benefits for almost a year. The first negotiating session of the year has not yet been scheduled.
School system officials have said previously that they are concerned with the rapid growth of health coverage costs in the district. The district’s portion of the cost is projected to increase by nearly $5 million to about $41 million for fiscal year 2010, which represents the single largest increase in the budget.
Mr. Kranz said the BEP report offers helpful information to the school district.
“At first blush, it indicates that our medical expenses are increasing; medical expenses are a function of the utilization of your program,” he said. “What raises concern is: Do we have a workforce that is getting sicker?”
Hamilton County Education Association President Sharon Vandagriff said she questioned the validity of Hamilton County’s health insurance costs increasing so dramatically in recent years.
“How could we jump so much in one year and no other urban (district) show so much of an increase?” she said.
But Art Fuller, a research associate with the state board of education who helped put together the report, said the jump didn’t necessarily seem unusual.
BEP COMMITTEE REPORT* Hamilton County Schools weighted average salary$40,396.67 (2004)$45,292.14 (2009)* Weighted average insurance$5,057.60 (2004)$9,652.90 (2009)* Salary plus insurance$45,454.27 (2004)$54,945.04 (2009)Source: Basic Education Program
“It doesn’t seem that out-of-the-ordinary,” he said. “Every school district has something potentially unique going on at a local level, so it’s hard to make any kind of assessment.
“In one district you might have a tendency for the people to choose one type of insurance coverage over another. The data is just reflecting the choices of the employees, and that could come at a different cost.”
Mr. Fuller said that, after a salary disparity lawsuit was brought against the state in 2004, legislation was passed requiring that the BEP review committee study salary and insurance across the state annually.
The weighted salary calculation takes into account that districts will have teachers with differing levels of experience and, therefore, different salaries. The insurance ratio includes both the local and state contributions, Mr. Fuller said.