Bradley Elementary School District 61 is trying to work out an issue with its health insurance fund that’s caused panic among employees about increased rates.

Superintendent Chris Hammond said that the district is doing fine financially, with about six months’ worth of reserves currently in its fund balance.

However, the fund that insurance premiums are paid from has been depleting since 2019, and the cause has not yet been determined.

The district’s health insurance program is self-insured, requiring the creation of a bank account, called the Med Trust Fund, where insurance deductions are deposited and claims are paid.

Hammond said he was informed of the depleting fund by the district’s finance and human resources directors when he became superintendent in July 2024.

Over the past year, the district has had to contribute a little over $500,000 from its operating fund to pay for insurance.

As a result of the insurance fund issue, employees’ rates skyrocketed this year from about 10% to about 33% on average.

School board vote coming up

A memorandum of understanding with the Bradley Elementary Education Association will be coming before the Bradley School Board for a vote on Thursday.

The MOU is an agreement that the district will contribute more toward employees’ insurance so employees won’t bear the full brunt of the increased costs.

The collective bargaining agreement currently has the district contributing $11,000 toward all insurance plans. This money comes from district funds, which are separate from the Med Trust Fund.

The MOU changes this amount, so the district will instead give $13,000 toward those with individual insurance plans, $14,500 toward those with employee-plus-spouse plans, $14,500 for those with employee-plus-children plans, and $16,000 toward family plans.

Also, if two family members are eligible for insurance and work for the district, they will be able to pool their two individual $13,000 allotments into $26,000 toward family insurance.

The district is investigating what happened with the fund.

Hammond said he reached out to BlueCross BlueShield to potentially connect with a company to audit the district’s premiums and claim history.

“We’re at the very beginning stages,” he said.

The district also continues working with its previous and current insurance brokers on determining why the fund has been depleting.

“It wasn’t just last year; it’s something that’s been going on for a considerable amount of time,” Hammond said. “We just don’t know what the issue is.”

More information will be shared with staff once available, he said.

Teachers union speaks up

Sarah Hasik, president of the Bradley Elementary Education Association, said there was a lot of concern when insurance premiums were shared on Aug. 26.

Under the new rates, someone on the lowest-cost family insurance plan will be paying about $1,000 per paycheck, she said.

“Once that was released, it was devastating, heartbreaking, and [we were] just overwhelmed with shock,” she said.

The new rates are slated to go into effect in October.

The union includes 123 members, and a total of 215 employees were using the district’s insurance as of last year.

Union leadership met with the school board in closed session special meeting on Sept. 3 and worked out the terms of the MOU.

“I know the district is working with the union in a collaborative way to find some type of solution to this,” Hasik said. “Both parties agree that this has been a huge hit, and it was unexpected.”

At the Sept. 3 meeting, staff members packed the small, normally fairly empty board room of the District 61 Administrative Center.

About eight staff members spoke out during the meeting regarding how the increased insurance rates are affecting them.

Some said they would have to look for second jobs if something wasn’t done.

“When they did share their stories, the whole room was crying,” Hasik said.

Hasik said the agreement for additional insurance funding from the district will be helpful, but the topic will be a point to return to during negotiations, which formally begin around March.

“I’ve been president since 2017, and this is the first time I have ever experienced this,” Hasik said.