BRADENTON – While the Manatee School Board has been sheltering teachers and refraining from raising insurance premium rates, the deficit has grown to over $12 million. While teachers and employees have remained relatively unscathed, some say classrooms are losing out. The budget comittee reveals hidden debts, unauthorized plans and claims that the school board is shuffling money from the operational fund to cover costs.
According to members of the committee, the taxpayers are paying around 70 percent of the self-insurance health care plan for district employees and their families. The single employee Blue Care HMO plan currently is available for as little as $10.50 per month. By 2013, taxpayers will have funded a share of $7,817,407 of the healthcare deficit says the budget committee. The Manatee County School Board has been citing an amount of $-9 million owed in insurance fees, but according to members of the committee, they actually owe more than 12 million, if one includes a worker’s comp deficit of $-3 million.
One can see budget committee members Tom Garland and Linda Schaich at almost every school board meeting giving somber speeches on overspending and money mismanagement, but when their two-minute time slot is up, they feel their advice is disregarded.
”A good question is: what is the role of the budget committee and is it real?,“ said Garland. ”Historically they haven’t listened. Previous members will tell you that it is a complete waste of time.“
Over the next three years, in addition to raising employee premiums, the Manatee School Board plans to raise ”board share“ -- meaning taxpayer dollars. In the minutes of the September 27, 2010 meeting, the board mentioned it would increase the ”board share“ by 15 percent in 2011, then another increase of 7.5 percent in 2012, followed by an additional increase of 7.5 percent in 2013 – all money that could be going to the classroom.
”I believe that there are many more people in the school district that have let the students, teachers and taxpayers down besides Tim McGonegal,“ said concerned citizen Peggy Martin. ”The district should know who these people are and ask them personally, why?“
The situation gets worse. Apparently, the district has been borrowing money to support the insurance plan out of the general fund and, according to Martin, paying claims out of the operational fund–the one that pays teacher salaries and benefits, provides educational materials for students and pays out day to day expenses.
District Superintendent Tim McGonegal took the blame for the position the school board has found itself in at the last board meeting, but bad advice has been a constant threat to the board’s stability. Because there is no penalty for not filing required annual reports, the school board has reportedly been advised to illegally disregard compliance with state statutes.
In 2011, the State Auditor General cited the Manatee School District with 13 findings. Although Manatee is not the only county with a self-insurance plan, it is the only county in the state with a deficit – the premiums are also the lowest of any county in the state. On April 1, 2011, the school board sent the auditor a three-year plan which wasn’t approved by both area teachers’ unions. The unions are currently at an impasse with the county. The state sent back a report saying that it didn’t consider the plan ”actuarially sound“. At the last school board meeting, the board voted to put off the three-year plan until the impasse could be resolved – and no one is sure when that will be.
Martin has been in contact with the State Auditor’s office. According to her, there was no mention in the report about the workers' comp deficit.
”The State Auditor General’s office states that the district had 90 days to file from January each year and they have no authority to grant a three-year extension,“ she said.
Martin and other members have been writing state agencies and demanding an outside audit.
”It is bewildering to me how a financial problem of this magnitude could have continued for five years without a solution being forced by state officers responsible for just this kind of fiscal mismanagement," said Garland.
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