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September 18, 2012

Carryover accounts should cover teacher's insurance deficits until February OSDE says

James Bright The Express-Star

CHICKASHA — A lack of health insurance funding for public school teachers is nothing to fear according to Oklahoma State Department of Education spokesperson Damon Gardenhire.

The state legislature made a mistake in their calculations in their projections for how much money was needed for the 2012 -2013 school year when it came to the flex deficit account - the allocated money responsible for staff health insurance.

"There are just too many teachers working right now," Chickasha Independent School District Director of Finance Dwight Yokum said.

State law dictates that Oklahoma must pay for public school employees health insurance.

Each district is responsible for covering the leftover expenses for their respective employees once the flex account is empty according to Gardenhire. He said their should be enough money in every district's carryover budget to cover the cost.   

Gardenhire said the legislature appropriated  money for the flex account based on 1.5 percent increase in staff. The actual increase ended up being a little more than 3 percent, Gardenhire said.

"Once this information came out, our legislature stepped forward and said 'we will be seeking additional funding.'" Gardenhire said. "Premiums just went up more than expected."

Gardenhire said he did not know what would happen if the flex account was empty and a district had depleted its carryover budget. He said planned to check on that issue, but calls to his office and cell phone were not returned before press time.

After the legislature meets in February, the districts will receive supplemental income to make up for any that was lost.

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