No sooner had St. Mary’s County School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano proposed a plan to deal with their budget crisis than criticism started pouring in from school system employees. The school system is faced with coming up with a $6 million shortfall in health care costs in the current fiscal year and adding a like amount in the next fiscal year to cover those anticipated costs.
To make up the shortfall Martirano is proposing no pink slips or furloughs for full-time employees. But there are no pay increases for employees as originally budgeted and health care premium increases. And the big hit to staffing could come for para-educators. There will be a reduction in part-time contract employees. And, the almost 50 full-time Instructional Resource Teacher (IRT) positions will be in jeopardy. The current IRT’s will be offered vacant positions (due to retirement or leaving the system) in the classroom if they are qualified.
The proposal to the school board was made Wednesday at a special budget workshop. The board will meet on May 7 to begin to discuss Martirano’s proposal. But later in the day, during a regular board meeting, the proposal hit the proverbial fan, with speaker after speaker during the Public Comment time going to the microphone in support of the IRTs and more funding for employees.
A Power Point presentation by three Maryland State Education Association representatives on behalf of the three employee bargaining units, called blaming the crisis on the school system’s healthcare usage a “Red Herring.” Instead, it was asserted “There is a budgetary problem.” The presentation said, “Within the limited funding allowances, not enough money was budgeted for healthcare despite trends and clear historical data.”
The school system budgeted $3.6 million less in the current fiscal year than in the previous, under the belief that changes in the plan structure and the way of handling the self-insurance, would lead to savings. Care First Blue Cross/Blue Shield recommended the school system budget $2 million more than they actually did. Martirano and the school board have admitted in hindsight that the budgeting was a mistake.
Martirano has blamed the under budgeting on the increased number of people joining the health care program, increased number of catastrophic illnesses and the high usage of brand name drugs versus generic drugs.
But the system was severely criticized by the speakers for blaming the employees for the problem. Education Association of St. Mary’s County President Anna Laughlin, who just had hip replacement surgery, was one of those catastrophic illnesses. “Our health care is a benefit that we fought for long and hard,” she said. “Many years our members made it clear that they wanted the program protected, improved and expanded and they gave up salary increases to get it. We have earned it and we owe no one an apology for using it.”
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