Breaux Bridge – The St. Martin Parish School Board voted to continue self-insuring its worker’s compensation insurance at this past Wednesday’s Finance Committee and regular board meetings.
The board had heard a proposal from Louisiana Worker’s Compensation Corporation (LWCC) at its May meeting but school system Chief Financial Officer Casey Broussard said that after going over the numbers, the district has enough money in its fund to provide coverage of its own. The LWCC plan, which would have no deductible as opposed to the school district’s current $700,000 deductible, would carry a premium of about $1.4 million dollars.
Over time, as the school district became invested in the LWCC insurance plan, the school system would begin to receive a dividend based on a percentage of its premium.
“Currently in our worker’s comp fund, we do have a fund balance, which helps offset the years we’ve had that were not the best years,” Broussard said. “So when you look back over a period, you kind of see the cycle of low years, it goes up, and it comes back down. I think hopefully we’re on the downward trend again.”
If the board went to an insurer plan like LWCC, it would cost about $600,000$700,000 more initially because the school district would have to pay the premium up front.
The school board would also still have to continue paying the claims it already has on the books until those run out.
“It could easily cost us a million dollars more a year than what we’re anticipating on how we’re currently funding our worker’s comp,” she said.
Board member Richard Potier said that in the future, as claims drop, it might be more beneficial to go to a system like LWCC. Broussard said the administration would continue to monitor the worker’s compensation claims to see if that would be a better option in the future.
Self-Funded
Pre-K Scores Pre-K teachers from schools across the parish were recognized for their classes receiving scores of 6.0 or higher (in the Excellent rating group) during fall and spring class observations.
Fifteen of the 23 pre-K classrooms in the parish received such scores, or 65 percent of the classes. Six received scores between 5.25 and 5.99 (highly proficient) and two received scores between 4.50 and 5.24 (proficient), meaning all classes were considered proficient or better.
Breaux Bridge Primary teachers and paraprofessionals honored for highly proficient scores were Brittany Simon, Rena David, Morgan Guillory, Sharma Breaux, Renee Babb, Laura Duhon and Taylor Rials.
Cecilia Primary honorees for highly proficient scores were Amy Dautreuil, Alisa Vidrine, Shelly Huval, Hallie Guidry, Rachel Dugas, Kim Robin, Chelsea Boyer, Lacey Menard, Kerry Melancon, Rachelle Broussard, Erin Noel, Jamie Tauzin, Noelle Breaux, Marcie Knott, Sherry Thibodeaux and Tina Guidry.
Parks Primary teachers and aides honored for highly proficient scores were Tiffany Phillips, Lisa Daigle and Kacey Theriot.
St. Martin Early STEAM Academy teachers and para-professionals honored for highly proficient scores were Nikki Viator, Robin Bonin, Tamika Castille, Amanda Douet, Dessia Handy and Tuyet-Nhi Perego.
Stephensville Elementary honorees were unable to attend the meeting.
Education scholarships Three students were recognized as education major scholarship recipients — Megan Perry, Khloe Duplechin and Zoe Tabor.
The scholarships are for high school students who have agreed to pursue education degrees at universities in the state.
In Other Business
St. Martin STEAM Academy was recognized for being named a recipient of the Disney Broadway Junior Grant, allowing the school to receive comprehensive show kits and performance licenses to produce a 60-minute show from the Disney Broadway Junior collection.
Board member Richard Potier asked the staff to draft a letter endorsing Prime Time in its bid for the Head Start program in the parish, and board member Russel Foti asked the board to advertise for a transportation manager and an accounts payable bookkeeper, which the board approved.
The Finance Committee also approved renewing a campsite lease to Leah Delaune for $400 annually. Broussard told the board that part of the lease includes a requirement to make $10,000 in improvements to the property over a 10-year period, and submit receipts for the improvements. There has been a $75,000 remodel on the property, Broussard said.
The board also approved a new School Resource Officers (SRO) contract with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office at an increase of about 5.49 percent.
The board also approved an additional $1,000 supplement pay to teachers from the June sales tax.
The board passed a consent agenda that included renewing an agreement with Electronic Information Systems Medclaims and renewal of a data sharing agreement with Outreach Technology and Learning Solutions.
