JANESVILLE — The Janesville Education Association on Wednesday continued its protest against the recent decision by the school board and district to have staff pay more for insurance, by handing out free donuts.
The JEA had representatives at each district building handing out donuts in an event sponsored by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, JEA President Laura Mattison told The Gazette. WEAC is the statewide teachers union.
The JEA created a flier that read across the top “We doNUT agree with the insurance!” It was followed up with a paragraph that read, “We call upon the School District of Janesville’s School Board commissioners to meet with the Janesville Education Association to identify concrete ways that the impact of the new health insurance plan can be financially offset by the district.”
The flier then prompted staff and teachers to take a donut, wear a sticker and to sign the petition. There was clip art of a donut with text surrounding it that read “FILL THE HOLE.” In the donut hole was a QR code that led directly to the petition online.
Mattison said the JEA ordered 1,509 donuts and divvied them up among each of the buildings.
“Since the insurance change affects more than just certified staff we wanted to include everyone,” Mattison said.
As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, the JEA received 37 additional signatures in electronic form on its petition, putting the total at over 300, Mattison said. At Franklin Middle School, there were an additional 10 signatures on paper, she said. There were paper petitions to sign at each building in the district.
Insurance plan coverage
Starting in 2024-25, the district will pay 88% of employee insurance plans, down from 90%, a decision made by the school board in April. The district is facing a $1.3 million overall increase in insurance costs between its two carriers — Dean and Mercy. Both providers are raising their rates as a part of the renewal process.
On May 14, the school board unanimously approved making a $4.9 million payment to pay down $10 million of debt created when the district purchased bonds in 2019. The reason for doing this was to wipe out almost $5.3 million in payments between 2026-2030, as well as saving $793,704 in interest payments.
“When we look at how the district spends money, we feel as though money should be prioritized on spending on students and we would like the district to focus on the staff who are working with the students. After the district paid toward defeasance (of the loan), we were disappointed that the district chose to pay toward that instead of insurance or other things,” Mattison said.
The flier also prompted staff and teachers to wear black on Friday, repeating the same protest done on May 1, which was also International Labor Day when there were demonstrations for workers’ rights around the world.
Mattison said that after the insurance decision by the board, “just under the previous plan a teacher would have to have almost $20,000 of medical bills to have the max out of pocket,” and that the new plan will make it even more difficult.
Mattison added, “if the district were to give us the 4.12 CPI (consumer price index) for Wisconsin, it would not cover the costs for most employees. This is essentially asking the employees to take less take-home pay.”
A representative from WEAC could not be reached for comment.
Mattison said there aren’t any protests or demonstrations planned after Friday’s dress-in-all-black day. However, she does plan to speak in front of the school board.
“Since the board hasn’t reached out to me to speak, I would most likely be speaking at the June meeting,” Mattison said.
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