'We are out of money': Lubbock ISD to raise employee health premiums

Faculty and staff in the Lubbock Independent School District, one of the city's largest employers , will be paying more for their health insurance next year after a Thursday school-board vote.

The Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees voted to approve next year's employee premiums for the district's self-funded heath plans, all of which will increase in January. Under the initial proposal, premiums in some cases would be more than double the current cost, but the board opted to divide those increases over two years.

School officials said the district's budget is stretched thin, and the increases are necessary to avoid cuts elsewhere. But teachers who spoke to the board during the Thursday meeting said their budgets are stretched thin, too.

"As an educator, I live paycheck to paycheck. This insurance premium increase is going to cost my family $425 per month," teacher Brenda Olden said. "I want to come to you and ask that you guys look and search underneath the couches, wherever you can, to find money to help us, because this is going to be difficult on your educators."

"I'm too fat and too old to be a stripper, and my knees are not going to be able to handle, with the insurance, to get another job," she said.

In June, Lubbock ISD passed a 2024-25 budget with an $8.6 million deficit, which board members said is because the state legislature has not increased funding allotments to keep up with rising operational costs. The district has also seen a rise in "catastrophic claims" — high-cost insurance claims for severe illness or medical emergencies — necessitating the increases, administrators said.

"We had over $4 million in unexpected catastrophic claims last year. Right now, it's at $3.1 million through June," said Lisa Thompson, executive director of risk management for LISD. "If we left the plan as it is, based on our contributions, our employees' current contributions and fixed expenses, it would leave us with a deficit of $6.993 million plus."

Teachers and former teachers pleaded with the board during the public comment period not to increase the premiums. Lauren Smith, president of the Lubbock Educators Association, said more than 75% of her organization's members who responded to a survey said they would forgo health coverage if the increases were adopted.

"There is simply no way an employee will be able to sustain an increase in premiums of anywhere from $55 per month to $425 more per month," Smith said. "It is very discouraging that the board would think that type of increase is OK at one time to pass on to employees."

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Trustee Lala Chavez said she's heard from some staff members who were considering retirement in lieu of paying the increased health care costs.

"Because of the catastrophic claims that we've had, they feel like they're penalized because of that," Chavez said. "I've heard plenty of them, several (from) Monterey (and) Lubbock High. They're ready to retire; they're able to retire. They chose to stay, but they're better off, they said, if they did retire."

Board Vice President Ryan Curry, who proposed the compromise where the premium increases would be split over two years, said the district has done everything it can to ease the burden on its employees.

"I don't blame a single soul for being pissed. Nobody wants to pay more for anything, and they work their tails off," Curry said. "I think I can speak for everybody up here, and the gentleman that's not here: Nobody haphazardly wants to increase something."

"We have put our people first year, after year, after year, after year," Curry later said. "We are out of money. There is no money to be gotten. We have minimized everything that we possibly can."

Trustee Nancy Sharp said the blame lies squarely at the feet of the Texas Legislature, which has not increased core public school funding since 2019.

"We already are in a deficit because the state has failed to fund us fully," Sharp said. "I think funding our primary mission of teaching and learning is where we have to focus and do the very best we can. And if, by some miracle, the legislature decides to give us more funding, we can try to do some things differently in the future."

Sharp and Thomson also pointed out that Lubbock ISD's premiums remain some of the lowest compared to its neighboring districts and the Teacher Retirement System's coverage.

"For an employee with children, in particular, it's $250 a month under the base HMO plan; $200 with the wellness credit, and that's a credit that's easily achieved with some guidelines," Thompson said. "(It would be) $557.11 at another district, $501 at another district and TRS-ActiveCare is $760."

The vote to approve the new health insurance premiums was 6-0. Board Secretary Jason Ratliff was not present at Thursday's meeting.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 'We are out of money': Lubbock ISD to raise employee health premiums