Fenton Schools to Save Money with Insurance Switch

It was all smiles for members of the members following their meeting Monday.

The seven attending members agreed to all three action items on the agenda and saved some money in the process.

They approved the new 2010-2012 Building Administrators contract, which was presented by Doug Busch.

Busch, the executive director of finance and personnel for Fenton Area Public Schools, told the board and the 20 attending residents that the school will save $64,000 dollars – just by changing insurance companies.  The contract expired last summer and the new deal moved to Health Plus from Blue Cross.

“That’s a contract that governs the school administrators (principals, assistant principals and athletic directors),” Busch said. “They made a pretty substantial change in their coverage. It’s big news from the stand point that if they had not made that change, their premiums they would have been increased in price by 25 percent. …It’s a big change for our district.”

This month’s upcoming budget was also on the agenda and the board approved a resolution to a revision to the 2010-11 General Fund Operating Budget.

Busch said that the school district also received their final allocation of second year stimulus funds along with EduJob funds. The biggest concern was for special education programs. While the number of young adults in the programs has decreased – the schools had to hire a new interpreter for the program.

The board also approved a force to help battle the growing problem of drug abuse.