001uh finance and facilities meeting is called to order. Agenda approval motion. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. Our first agenda item um is the insurance policy. Um >> so thank you. >> Is this supposed to start with my question or you already know? >> Well, so I I'll first uh call Heath Thomas from Mark 3 up. He is the most knowledgeable person around on insurance and so I think he has a few remarks um to make prior to answering your question if that's okay sir. >> Yep. Okay. >> Good afternoon. >> Uh as Sonia mentioned, uh my name is Heath Thomas. It's good to be back with you all again. Uh I'm with Mark 3. We manage both your health insurance as well as your voluntary benefits. And I know obviously the focus today is
002on the health insurance and the cost. So I want to just give you some ideas of some of the things that we are actively looking at to reduce cost. The first thing that we are looking at is we've got a pricing for a dependent eligibility audit. This will give us the opportunity to see if there are people that may have coverage outside of the school system that may be covered now with such as spouses or dependents that we could look at potentially. maybe a policy change, maybe not, but just to see what is out there from a a standpoint of what's available. So that's currently in place. And I will also say that the city is looking at doing the same thing is is popping up very much around the state now to look and
003see what's eligible and what's out there. So that's something we've already gotten a quote we are planning to do uh this summer to look and see what we can come up with for the fall for any dependent eligibility situations. The second piece, uh, you'll recall I spoke in the fall about the Healthkeepers network. Um, from a ROI standpoint, the savings is pretty substantial on that particular benefit. Uh, the city did move over to the Healthkeepers plan effective January 1st, 2026. Uh, we are still very early to look at claims data in regards to what that change will represent from a monetary standpoint. Uh, but the big concern for the committee, uh, and it was for the city as well, was what was the noise going to be in regards to network access? And I can
004tell you that there's been very minimal noise uh very low amount of noise from the employees in regards to accessing physicians. So uh I do anticipate that you know the savings from that we've estimated it last year for you all is about a half a million dollars. Uh so that's a substantial sum that is sitting on the table uh out there. The third piece of the the financial side of the health insurance is that in the last 24 months, your enrollment has dropped about 10%. Um, so in January of 2024, you had almost 1,400 employees enrolled in the health plan. As of February of 26, you are down to,285. Um, so obviously there's some fluctuations throughout the year. August tends to be a low month, as you would expect. Um, but we haven't seen the
005bounce back from the hiring in 25 and 20 24 and 25 to get back to those 24 numbers. So th that lack of enrollment has driven revenues down slightly because they're not here. We're not gathering those premiums. Uh the last piece that I want to talk about is Medicare education. So the uh centers for CMS Medicaid and Medicare services have a guideline that indicates that uh active employees so not retirees but active employees above 65 must be offered the same health plan as the active employees under 65. And the second part of that is there can be no incentivized uh situation to move those people off of the plan. So we can't u encourage them from a financial aspect in any way shape or form to move off of the plan. What we can do
006because I do think there are some people that could benefit from maybe being on Medicare as opposed to being on the health plan is we could provide a Medicare education class and typically we would do that at the end of the year when Medicare open enrollment is uh it also coordinates really well with your all's open enrollment but this would be a class where people could come in and optionally learn about Medicare and the benefits of it. Nothing is sold to them. Uh it's actually filed as an educational meeting with the carrier that does it. Um so they can't really sell anything but it educates the population on what is out there. um and then they can then take it on their own uh accord to be able to look at other options and see
007if it does make sense. Uh obviously a lot of people on Medicare, there's some really good benefits out there. Uh but from a cost standpoint, um you're an employee from an employee only standpoint. It's going to be a difficult task for them to want to pay more money potentially on Medicare. So it's there's a very complicated situation especially around prescriptions that it would be a very individualized discussion with those beneficiaries. Um, and last but not least, I just want to mention that across the board, we're seeing a significant increase in health insurance spend. Um, I know that a lot of your neighbors, you're familiar with the local choice benefit. Um, this uh benefit is across the state. There are a lot of municipalities that participate in it. And this year, the average increase for them
008was about 14%. That 14% increase also included a removal of GLP1 medicines for weight loss out of their drug, out of their plan. as well as additional deductibles for prescriptions. So, not only did they have benefit changes, but they had a substantial rate increase across the board. I have multiple clients with above 20% rate increases for them. So, just in general, the health insurance market is uh it's an expensive place to be right now and it is getting more expensive as we go forward. So, that's kind of where we are. I know there were some questions that you all wanted to ask me. I'm happy to answer those and provide you as much knowledge as I can. >> Okay. Um, one of my questions and did involve the Medicare issue. >> Yes, sir. >> Understanding
009that we can't compel them or um, incentivize them, but we can educate them. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, and what I'm trying to understand is how can we go about and you said we could do a class around the same time as our um, open enrollment because I think my people perish for lack of knowledge. >> Yep. And if if I was a over 65 employee and I was paying for um our insurance out of my check and I didn't know or didn't understand that I could switch over to Medicare legally because I'm over 65 and I didn't know that then I would continue to pay into the plan >> certainly. So I would wonder if we have done put enough effort into educate because I understand there's several dozen employees that fit that. Um
010>> certainly yeah the the tough part is really comes down to financial and prescriptions often times. Uh the reason it's financial is let's say you're employee only right now on your health plan. Uh and I don't have the Sonia probably knows it better off the top of her head but around $42 a month uh employee only premium. uh your part B premium to go into Medicare is going to be almost right around $200 a month just that by itself. Uh and then you would either need to purchase a Medicare supplement and then a standalone drug plan to really function under Medicare or there's also Medicare Advantage programs that are available as well. Um but so from an employee standpoint, it's going to have to really be worth it to come up with that extra money
011every month from a benefit side. Um but that's where the education comes in. And the other side is prescriptions. And the reason I say prescriptions, right now your employees have a a basic co-pay structure for their drugs. Okay? So no matter what the drug is, there's a a predictable expense and the retail cost doesn't really come into play. Under Medicare, the retail cost definitely matters. Um it's a completely different structure. Uh there is some separate out-of- pocket maximums that exist for Medicare. Uh this year it's $2,100 on the out-of- pocket for prescriptions. Uh so there's some additional benefits but it's a very uh to your point it's education is key and it's a requires an in-depth level of education for each employee and each employee is different. So the starting point typically is an educational
012meeting. Again this is not a uh there's no carrier materials. It's not no one's being sold anything but this is what Medicare A is. This is what B is. These are the options that you have on how you can fill in the gaps. And then if that is of interest then they could pursue that and and come off of the group plan. And again, the timing would work out well because Medicare open enrollment is October 15th to December the 7th uh with an effective date of January 1st and your effective date currently sits at January 1st as well. So the timing of it would make sense to do it in the fall. Uh we wouldn't do this meeting just for uh those people over 65 because there's a lot of people that may have parents
013in the situation, you know, or just trying to learn about it in general. So we would open it up to everybody and allow them to come in and learn about Medicare. It may be something that would be personal to them or to their families. Now those people at retirement age from 62 to 65 are not eligible for Medicare. >> Medicare starts at 65. >> At 65 >> regardless of social security. >> So does social security they they're eligible for social security. So do some of In other words if they're receiving social security at 65 then that that um premium is not out of pocket. They deduct that from your social security check. They're still paying for it though. >> They're still paying for it, but it's not like they're like like it's being deducted from
014their paycheck. The $40 a pay period. >> Yeah. That $200 would just come out of their social security. >> Comes out of their social security, which millions of social security recipients do every month. >> Absolutely. The the other thing is that a lot of your employees are going to not be drawing social security. So that would not necessarily because they're actively employed, they still have a job. Um, and there are implications on if you take part B, uh, that you could impact your ability to migrate out into Medicare downstream. So, it's very important to time all that up correctly. >> And some of those things are are legit, but some of them are also, um, once they are over 65, there's no penalty for them to draw. So, Social Social Security. >> Yes, there is.
015until >> from 62 to 6. >> 66 is full retirement age from >> 67 is full retirement age, >> but you can get full >> Medicare at 65. >> Full you didn't you said social security, >> right? No penalty, >> right? >> There's there's a there's less money at 65, of course, because my my full retirement age would have been 66 and four months, but I retired at 65 and I lost maybe $20 a month for a year. But there's a payback penalty if you make too much money on the outside. >> Only only between 62 and 65. >> That's not correct. >> Okay. >> Can you >> Anyways, >> okay. >> Um in your um um financial education portion, do do you involve the Irma calculation? >> So, we it doesn't get into that
016detail into the educational meeting. That would be more of a one-on-one situation. Uh the the educational meeting is more of the basics of Medicare. So what is part A hospitalization? What is part B? What do they cost you? And what are the options to fill in Medicare Advantage supplement? How do those plans work? So it's really just a baseline. A lot of the you know some people may have low income subsidy qualification. There's a lot of different things that would go in that would be more on a one-on-one basis, but in the group setting it's more of a this is Medicare. These are some general costs and then it'll it gives the employees an opportunity to look into it further if they want to explore. >> Okay. be only be and I'm going to say
017that it would have to you have to from the due diligence side you're going to you're really going to want to say if you're going if you're talking someone into it having them know that if they take too much out of an IRA lump sum that IMA is going to pop >> sure >> it could be four three three times four times what the base is. >> Yeah. And that really is a more of a conversation with their financial consultant versus the the Medicare person because that in theory if if that individual has enough money that they're drawing out that much money to put them over, they probably should have a relationship with someone who's telling them when and how they should draw that money out. >> They should. >> Yeah, >> of course. But
018I'm just saying if we're going to get into that, if you're going to get into that or someone's going to get into that, I was just hoping that they they'd have that covered. But if they don't, they don't. >> Yeah. That would be more of a financial planner type discussion. So, I'm just pulled up the Social Security Administration. So, full retirement age is 67 to get no penalty on any income. You may keep all your benefits no matter how much you earn. This is Social Security website. But the people I'm talking about have already turned 65. They've been 65. They're 66 67. They, you know, I'm not talking about people that are yet to retire. I'm talking about people that have already had retirement age. >> Those people may not understand the benefits. >> It's
019>> and so I would like to if we can do the class in the fall when we do open enrollment to educate them on the benefits because they may find it's more beneficial for them to switch over. >> They could >> painlessly and increase their income because they can have access to their social security because they've reached the retirement age. Some of them have already been at retirement age for a couple years now. Sure. >> So, um, and without, you know, like I say, for lack of, my people perish for lack of knowledge. And I think people are missing some benefits because they don't understand. They haven't been educated on the benefits. They continue to work. They enjoy their job, but they don't know that they can substantially benefit from switching over to to possibly
020switching over to Medicare and and collecting some social security while they're still working. And I think they should know that. >> Okay. Um yes sir, we will actually we we will include that in our open enrollment, some educational materials as well as some opportunities for some trainings. Um we'll make sure that that's on the docket um this fall when we we have open enrollment. So are there any other questions for for >> So in terms of the class, who would normally be teaching that class in terms of giving them the education? So, >> so Mark 3 runs our open enrollment. So, it would be their >> So, in in a situation, we would have there would likely be an Anthem representative who would come in and do the presentation, but they would not have any
021Anthem branding. It would have to be it's filed with Centers of Medicaid and Medicare Services as an educational event. So, there's strict guidelines that they have to follow in that regard. >> It's not trying to persuade them one way or the other. >> No, it's purely educational and it has to be from federal guidelines. There cannot be any encouragement or incentive to to move people out. >> Any other questions? >> So if let's say a person would look at the program then they would have an opportunity to speak individually to determine whether they want to make a switch or not. >> That's correct. >> They can. Um and you said the city did switch over to um Medicare Advantage I mean to um >> to Healthkeepers. >> Healthepers. >> Yes sir. Effective January 1st. So
022uh as of this point we have uh only two months of claims data. Uh we were scheduled to get back in front of the city and the schools actually in the month of April to discuss the utilization of the plans uh as well as uh get Anthem to come in and do a full-blown utilization prior to our planning for budgetary for the summer to come up with rates and any potential changes that may need to be made. Um, and just FYI, the the um I know I had spoken when I was here in the fall, the plan is scheduled to go out to bid in 2028, I'm sorry, 2027 for a 1 1228 effective date. So, just be aware that uh this time next year, we'll be prepping towards a bid process to put the
023plan out to bid to look at a full array of options. Um the other thing uh before I uh leave, I know there's been some issues with uh the fluctuation and how the premiums come through um with you know the way the self-funded plans work. Some weeks are good, some months are good, some months are bad. Um because of the hard work of Sonia and Barbara and the team, uh we were able to get Anthem to agree to give us a flat billing for 2027. uh they couldn't do it midyear for 2026 but they are they have agreed to do it for 2027. So uh the plan at this point is that uh when we go through the renewal process this fall as our typical process would be uh the schools will get a predicted
024amount of funding for 2027 and you'll have based on the enrollment you'll have a predictable monthly expense every month. Uh and then at the end of the year it'll be settled up for any adjudication. So, um, so we'll still be Anthem. So, with Anthem, when they come to do the open enrollment information, would it also be some some of their their Medicare Advantage people here? Is that who's going to teach the >> So, the they would be separate meetings. Um, and >> but would it be the Medicare advantage people? >> The advant the Medicare people would do would run the meeting. They have a specific uh group of employees that are in the senior division there and they would come in and run the the the meeting for the Medicare. Yes, sir. >> All right.
025>> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you all so much. I appreciate y'all allowing me to come back. Absolutely. >> Thank you. Appreciate you. Next on our agenda, the metal detectors update. Yes, sir. Um, the metal detectors are now fully implemented at both EC Glass High School and Heritage High School. What began as a new process has quickly become part of the normal morning routine, and both students and staff have acclimated well to the system. Similar to the roll out at EC Glass, Heritage did start out a little bit slower on day one. However, improvements came quickly. On average, all bus riders are through the process by 7:23 a.m. and all car riders by 7:28 a.m. We have identified that late arrival is the primary factor impacting the stu the car rider and student driver
026entrance. As students arrive closer to the tardy bell, the volume compresses into a shorter window, resulting in longer lines. To address this, Mr. Be has already communicated out with families and student drivers about the importance of arriving earlier with the designated arrival window and to better distribute traffic and maintain efficiency and improvements have already been seen in this area. I would like to extend a special thank you to our school security officers on day one of the implementation at both high schools. They modeled the process in its entirety from start to finish. On day two, they provided hands-on support and guidance so the staff could comfortably start transitioning into this process. And by by day three, they began fading that hands-on support, allowing Heritage staff to fully operate the system independently while SSOs monitored from
027a distance. In addition to that, a dedicated SSO is now available at both high schools to monitor and provide security during the morning arrival process. Both schools continue refining their procedures and the process continues to improve each day. Overall, the system has proven to be successful and is operating efficiently. >> I have a question. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, is there is the traffic pattern on Wars Fairy Road contribute to possibly some of the delays with the parent and student drivers? >> It could be. I haven't looked at that directly. >> I know we have asked the city a couple times to look at that intersection right there. Um, right now they have a couple signs um to see if we could do something there to improve the flow. >> I haven't I have not
028looked at that. >> It bottlenecks right there >> in the mornings. So the buses come in on Leedsville Road, right? and go up Leville Road, but all of the student drivers and parents come in off Wards Ferry. >> Yes, sir. >> Yeah. So, you got people coming in to make a left turn into the school and people making a right turn. We need to look and see if that's causing some delays in them getting into the parking lot so that they can be on be at the U metal detector in a expeditious manner. >> Yes, sir. Would you would you say this has increased the flow of the traffic? How of the traffic when they come in? Is it nice smooth? >> Oh, yes. Since uh since day one, um traffic has picked up its
029pace. Uh day one, everybody was still trying to figure out where they were going, what they were doing. Uh it is um it is nice to have a a a magnifying glass almost over our arrival time at this point. So, like I said, you know, at first we were we were looking at 7:44 to 7:47 at Heritage uh getting everybody through and now at this point we're at 7:23. So, that includes the the people showing up late. So, they're even the people who are typically late are getting there on time now. >> Do you do you sense that people feel safer the kids? >> I would think so. >> That's good. put on camera. I don't want to ask. Yeah, we'll leave it right there. Okay, is that it? >> That's all I've got. >>
030All right, sounds good. So we got both high schools are are being metal detected secure. So I'm I'm grateful for that. Be less burden on our um discipline committee. All right. Our next item is the heritage turf product project update. I see my I see my facilities gentleman back there. >> Yes, sir. I'm >> jumping at the bit. So >> I'm going to read a brief statement. If you have any specific questions about the turf, you are more than welcome to ask those afterwards. Um, and Mr. Eubank and Mr. Floyd and Mr. Hamlet, they're all here at your disposal. >> Uh, so I am pleased to share that the turf project at Heritage High School has been officially completed and our students are already actively using the facility. On March 4th, Lynchburg City Schools held
031a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of this important project at Heritage High School. The invent the event included remarks from principal Mr. Bey and our superintendent Dr. Majette, highlighting the positive impact this upgraded facility will have on our students and athletic programs. One highlight of the afternoon was the ceremonial first pitch. Dr. Majette wound up and threw a fast ball that landed perfectly in the strike zone. >> She didn't she didn't hit a she didn't hit a bounce. >> He caught it. >> Okay. >> It was fantastic. Um, following the ceremony, guests transitioned down to the football and soccer field for viewing, giving everyone an opportunity to see the completed project firsthand. I want to extend a sincere thank you to Jordan Eubank, Don Floyd, Brian Green, Brad Bradley, and Tim Bey for
032their important roles in this project. I also want to thank Austin Jurnney and his team with communications for coordinating a smooth and celebratory ribbon cutting. And of course, I would like to extend a note of gratitude to the school board and city council for helping to make this project happen. It was a great event and a proud moment for our division. >> It's absolutely beautiful. >> It It really is. Not that you know whether or not I mean in both fields. >> Okay. >> And the pictures don't do it justice the work that that that team has put in to make this happen. >> Well, we were there. >> Yeah. So, I can even tell by the pictures. >> Mhm. >> So, don't you love it when somebody asks, "Well, next, what's the next thing
033we're going to do?" >> All right. >> Yep. And those questions are coming. >> EC glass. >> Okay. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. But that looks great. As I mentioned, if you have any questions about the uh about the field, we have our team here >> ready to answer. >> It's fine, gentlemen. I'm ready. >> Appreciate it. >> Just just comment I might say you know what I was I was there in the morning saw that and also making a comparison in my mind with the standard of what I seen up at Liberty University >> and I tell you this is on the same caliber. I mean, I really thought so. I was able to go up there at Liberty at one point, saw the new turf and then get a chance to see this.
034So, I just commend you guys for the great work and I'm sure the cost was much much lower than what Liberty University would have done this. >> Yeah, >> I appreciate that. >> They have an endowment. >> Okay. Um, so while we're talking about turf fields, >> so we we've approved that shifting of glass. I know we're talking Heritage today, and kudos for Heritage, but I know we talked about doing the shift because of the lighting and the and the what is it? The bleachers. They were lined up with the bleachers, but we're moving them. >> That's correct. >> That's still So, is that costing us anything? Is that progressing pretty smooth? Where we at? Where we at, Don? Well, so speak to that. >> Uh we have we have released Keystone Sports on on
035the EC glass project just this past week. Um so we we've got a design phase to go through. Okay. >> Got to do some surveys of the field, get some information, put some drawings together. The plan is is to start this project as soon as uh spring sports end. >> Okay. >> It'll go through the summer with the goal being done before the first home. Now the shifting I wanted to ask last the shifting of the field won't affect the the track. The track just is going to be rebuilt as it lays. >> Correct. >> Just shifting of the field for the um >> that's >> for the for the football and soccer. >> Correct. We we might encroach into the Dzone on the one end but it's substantially bigger than it needs to be.
036So it should not affect any activities. >> Okay. Sports. >> So it won't affect the track itself which is what needs the major work. >> Correct. And we're starting that when? >> As soon as spring of sports are over. So in the end of May first depends on playoff runs or anything like that. But as soon as we have the field, we'll get going. >> Okay. And I'm asking about the track. >> It it will all be done this summer. So they'll do the field first and then do the track. >> I'll do Okay. >> On the outside. Yep. All right. >> And we do still have the track at Heritage to do this summer as well. >> Okay. So we'll do a big ribbon cutting and all that at at EC Glass. >> Absolutely.
037>> Same way. Okay. Absolutely. >> All right. >> Without a doubt. >> Great. >> Well, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Really appreciate it. >> Looks great. >> Thank you. >> Next on our agenda. Um, we don't have any superintendent comments at this meeting. >> Not at this committee. Okay. Your committee, >> board member, Mr. Depal. >> Nothing. >> Mr. Alen, >> nothing really. All right. Well,formational items. Um, the April 14th meeting has been cancelled because that we'll be having a joint meeting with the city council that day. >> That'll be our second joint um school board city council meeting. So, our next scheduled meeting will be May the 10th. >> Wait, May what? >> 12th. >> May 12th. Yes. May 12th. Um the otherformational item I have is um that's it. >>
038That's it. >> We're journ. Thank you.