The teachers’ union, also known as the Palo Alto Educators Association (PAEA), came to an agreement with the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) for increased co-payments for health benefits at a negotiations meeting on Oct. 20.

The Joint Benefits Committee within the union, which includes teachers, administrators and classified employees, proposed a plan with additional co-payments to help the district cover the increased health costs, which the union agreed to. The district moved to a less expensive plan provided by Kaiser and Blue Cross, and a less expensive Delta Dental plan. The district is also giving employees the option to start a Flexible Spending Account for health care expenses, and will match the first $200 dollars deposited in the account. Altogether, the district managed to save $1.2 million in expenditures.

Members of the union and the district hold annual meetings to renegotiate their contract. This year, due to budget cuts, the teacher’s union pushed for health benefits instead of a salary increase. “It’s not a big negotiation year because of flat property tax growth and take backs from the State of California, so we knew there was no new money,” PAEA president Triona Gogarty said. “We didn’t ask for a raise, but we were trying to hold onto our health benefits.”

PAEA negotiations chair and social studies teacher Ronen Habib agreed that pushing for a salary increase this year would not be possible. “We weren’t going to ask for something unreasonable,” he said.

The union initially asked the district to cover $780,000 in health benefits without increased co-payments, which is what a person would pay for each doctor’s visit. However, the district said that with its increased expenditures, it could not afford to pay the increased premiums, or cost, of health insurance. The price of health insurance to cover the district staff increased to approximately $1.2 million this year. “It’s a really thorny issue this year because the cost of health benefits has increased,” Principal Noreen Likins said.

Currently, the PAUSD has a surplus of $5.9 million, $9.5 million in basic aid reserves and $4.6 million in reserves for economic uncertainties. Likins said the amount in district reserves is already above the legal reserve requirement. According to Habib, however, the district would rather use this money to offset future deficits.

Even though the district stated that it couldn’t afford to pay for increased premium costs, Habib acknowledges that it is not to blame. “We understand that the district is not creating the problem,” he said. “Premiums are a national concern.”

Salary and health benefits make up 77 percent of district expenditures. According to Gogarty, in 10 years, the percentage of expenditures on health benefits has increased from 6 to 11 percent. Given the fact that the issue of health coverage is a national concern, the union is continuing to push for it. “I just feel like health benefits are a necessity in a year that we’re not asking for a raise, and we’re paying more for co-pays, which essentially equates to a pay cut,” Habib said.

According to Gogarty, the district also said there would be layoffs if there were another economic crisis. Thus, the union wanted to find the best way to save money. “Every $80,000 that we do not send to Blue Cross or Kaiser is another teacher’s job saved in the coming years,” she said.