001Good evening everyone. It being 6 p.m. on Monday, April 13th, 2026, I'll hereby call the regular meeting of the Gardener School Committee to order and ask Dr. Goen to please call the role. >> Mr. Paul Cormier >> here. >> Mhm. Jennifer >> present >> Mr. Robert Schwarz >> present >> Mr. John >> present >> Mrs. Rachel Cormier absent. >> Mayor Michael Mickelson >> present. >> Superintendent Pelgro >> present. >> Thank you very much. At this time, all who are able, please join us in the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. Beginning with item B on our agenda. Item B, open time for the
002general public. Is there anyone here from the general public who wishes to be heard? Mr. Pogle, please join us up here at the podium. >> Yes. through >> just identify your name, organization, and address so we have that for the record. And then your floor is yours. >> Uh about order to publish magazine.com, 39 Orchard Lane in Temple of Massachusetts. And I feel honored, honored to be in the presence of so many great people. And that's why I showed up tonight because I see so many meetings where the public does not show up to talk to you folks and express their ideas. But there's a reason why they don't and I think I've identified it and that's because they trust you. Some people think sometimes I'm over the top when I talk about gardener being
003the quote model city for America. But there are reasons for that and you have all contributed to that. Take for example a student who many many years ago people would call a quote dummy when I grew up. It was awful. Uh they don't do that anymore. What you do is you find solutions. you find a tutor and you let each student rise to the level of their ability. And when you have exceptional students, you've arranged for them to go to college early so that they can advance their careers and actually save some money on their college education. I'm also honored because in my opinion, we have a future president of the United States in this hall and he gets embarrassed when I say it. I think it's the election of 2024. And then by the
004way, sitting next to him, one of the greatest superintendents in all of the United States, probably a future secretary of education, whether it's under Nicholson or someone else. With all the good you do, I have a favor to ask of you. Something that has bothered me and has bothered my friend Steve at the radio station in Gardner. When you have school closings, I'd like to get a notification. I'd like to get an email. What happens currently is we have to kind of fish around and I want to relate something that happened one morning, one of the last storms. I was sitting in bed. I have a sleep issue. So, I sleep a little bit and I wake up. I woke up at 6:00 in the morning. I said, "Oh my goodness, gardener's closed and I'm
005reporting that there's a 2-hour delay." So, I got up, changed it on my platform, called Steve Wendell at the radio station. I said, "Do you know that school is closed today?" He said, 'N no, I didn't know that.' I said, 'Well, yeah, they change it. They're reporting that now. And actually had been reported on the uh platform because you made a decision. I get that. So, what I'm asking is something very simple, very easy to do. Send out an email to Gardener Magazine, to WGAW, to the Gardener News, and anyone else that you think it's important. And by the way, send it to the senior center, too. The senior center, by the way, goes by the school schedule. And I'm told by the director, Mike Ellis, that he doesn't get notified when there's no school.
006So, that's something I'm asking you to change. And with that, all the other stuff you do is absolutely wonderful and why I think that you're creating this model city. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Pogle. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Any other members from the general public who wish to be heard at this time? Seeing none, we'll move to item C, the consent agenda. This was included in your packet. Is there a motion on the floor? >> Motion made. >> Is there a second? Motion made by Mr. Second by Mr. Schwarz to approve the consent agenda as presented. Is there any discussion on that motion? >> Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. >> Opposed? Nay. Motion carries. Uh, moving on to item D, the subcommittee reports. Beginning with the facilities subcommittee, Mr.
007Schwarz. >> The uh facilities committee met on April 7th. And uh first thing I want to start off with is that if you remember last month when I reported the number of work orders that the facilities department or maintenance department processed. Well, the uh the number of work orders again was significant and the elementary school was the number one winner. high school being the second and uh let's see elementary or the middle school was second high school was third and Elm and G I combined them together they were third they were doing a lot of things and another things another thing I know not noticed that I thought was something was wrong with our heating system I saw uh uh 24 work orders labeled blow down boilers at Elm Street School. I understand Elm Street
008is our oldest building. And so Mr. Anderson and I had a discussion or with the committee about what that was about. And he says there was it's a preventative measure to keep the heating system working as efficiently as it as it does. And they have to do this three three times a week all during the winter. And what it is, they take a little water off the top of the boiler, a little water off the bottom of the boiler. And those actions keep the water clean so it doesn't get muddied up and cause other issues that are expensive to repair. So thanks to Mr. Anderson and crew and and doing that thing which I thought was something really wrong with the heating system but it's a a matter of routine and a and a needed
009requirement along with the various issues that the schools run into with their work orders. I might also mention about Mr. Anderson is getting to be very very busy lately other than supervising the crew that he has beneath him that he is uh reviewing the plans and bid processes for the new roof for the middle school that's going on which is over a million dollar project. and also of uh the renovation of the high school's uh girls and boys locker rooms and lockers, things like that. Uh spring is here. He's also spent some time getting the athletic fields ready for the spring season of of uh hockey and uh field hockey, baseball, and few other things that go in the springtime. So, we've all been busy. That's the end of my report. >> Thank you very
010much, Mr. Schwarz. Have any questions, comments, concerns from the members of the committee? >> Oh, excuse me. One thing >> also on my report was a excess surplus list. We will we will address that list in item uh 3774 when it comes up. >> Thank you, Mr. Schwarz. Any other questions, comments, or concerns from the members of the committee? >> Moving on to the finance subcommittee, Mr. Lefrenia. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The uh finance subcommittee met on April 7th. Uh we started off uh discussing expense report. Um we had our out of district tuition line dropped 24,000 uh from last month. Um our but our collaborives tuition line is now in the negative by 35,000. Um plumbing uh plowing and sanding line is now in the negative which is obviously no big surprise. Um
011our substitute uh not of the substitute teacher lines seem to be more in line with the budget which is nice. um especially garden high is is only spent has spent about a half um of that line which is is nice to see. Um we went on to discuss the FY27 uh budget. Um we went over the expense uh sheets. Mr. Hawk was walked us through the net school spending budget. Um, after making over a million dollars in cuts, uh, we still remain at a deficit of about 1.5 million going into this budget. Um, there'll be many more discussions we uh around this. we uh discussed uh uh cuts um and you know obviously cuts are going to have a negative effect um and uh so we want to try and avoid that. We're going to
012try and get as creative as we can and hopefully close that gap. Um let's see. And obviously we discussed some of the drivers too. Mostly uh the biggest driver of this uh budget right now as far as uh uh how much we come in under um or in a deficit is basically insurance. Um that's like everybody knows insurance is just astronomical now. And um I know we're looking in again looking into that creatively and the mayor has been having meetings on that to discuss that also. So we'll see how that all turns out. And that was it. Thank you. >> Just to clarify, Mr. Lennon, so the 1.5 is for next year's budget. We are >> correct. The FY2 budget. Yes, >> correct. Fiscal 27, not 26. And I will say now that I will
013be going into what those meetings that Mr. the friend you referred to are and what the options are for health insurance going forward in my final comments. Uh while I can't take questions during final comments on that as that would constitute an open meeting law violation, it is something I do plan to at least uh preview for the committee right now and I'll get more into that later on the agenda. Thank you. Any other questions, comments, concerns for Mr. Lefren's report? >> Thank you very much, Mr. Leia. >> Thank you. Uh there being no objection, just so that the agenda flows better between the items and new business, I'm going to take item E out of order at this time and we'll cover uh Mr. Laspanado's student advisory report. So to recap the one that
014I have under April 13th, congratulations to our January Wildcat winners, Sophia Saint Pierre, Chase Hart Messier, and Nathaniel Watson. Uh then moving on, a group of 40 GHS seniors and juniors were taken to UMass Amsters on March 13th. Students were able to attend an info session completed completed a large college tour and then were able to eat lunch in the dining hall. On March 13th, 14th, and 15th, the DHS version of the Adams family was performed to a packed Landry Auditorium. It was the largest turnout in more than 5 years. Great performances by all involved. Delaney Cormier, a senior at JHS, was honored by the Worcester County Superintendent Association during the annual scholars recognition ceremony for her tremendous impact, leadership, and achievement while at Gardener High School. The event was held on March 25th at
015the College of Holy Cross of the Holy Cross. On March 25th, three GHS students, Nicole, Duran, and Fonte, Kylie Charters, and Sakari Jenkins, participated in early college day at the state house. Here they were able to listen to different speakers and advocate for continued funding for this amazing program, including conversations with their state representative, John Zadik. Junior parent information night was held at Gardener High School on March 31st. The GHS counseling department presented information on the college application process, trades, military, and the workforce to 50 families. Our partners at College Affordable also provided information regarding financial aid and resources related to the college application process. Our spring athlete athletic season is here with our baseball, softball, track and field and tennis teams all ready for their upcoming season. And that is all. >> Thank you,
016Mr. Lepinados. Any questions, comments, concerns? >> I very much enjoyed the Adams family. I'll throw that out there. Great show. >> It was amazing. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate that, Aiden. Uh, now we're going to go back up to the agenda and Mrs. Hurst, when I take it to you, feel free to take it into the next item on the agenda because they are related and we'll go with the policy subcommittee report. >> All right. So, uh, policy subcommittee met on March 18th. Um, and tonight we have 11 policies for first read. You'll notice that two of those when they come up next time will be for they're for adoption. So, make sure you look at them really good. Uh, would you like me to list those off? >> I can take care of
017that for you if you'd like. Um, again, to clarify for the members of the public and the members of the committee, if it says for adoption, that is a new policy that did not previously exist in the policy manual. If it does not say for adoption, it is an edit to an existing policy that's already in the policy manual. And we'll begin with as follows with item 3772, first reading of policies. These are included in your packet this evening for information to be voted on at our following school committee meeting. Here we go. Policy EVB, first aid. Policy E A G, student transportation and private vehicles. Policy E A, the other one was E A G. This is E AJ, motor vehicle idling on school grounds. E FBA, school food and nutrition for adoption. New
018policy. Policy E F civil rights complaint policy for student nutrition program for adoption. New policy. FF, naming new facilities. GBA, equal opportunity employment. GBE staff ethics and conflict of interest. GBE staff conduct, GB EB gifts and to and solicitations by staff and GB EBD online fundraising and solicitation. These are included in your packet this evening for first reading for vote at our final uh next uh policy subcommittee. And now moving on to item 3773 second reading of policies. These are policies for vote this evening. ECAB access to buildings and grounds. This is a new policy for adoption and policy EAEC, student conduct on school buses. Mrs. Hurst, >> um the policy subcommittee recommends that we adopt ECAB and um the um >> E AEC. >> Yeah. >> Motion made by Mrs. Hers. Is there a
019second? Well, I make a motion to adopt the first policy and to, you know, >> to edit the second policy >> and second >> motion made by Mrs. Hurst. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Cormier to adopt the two policies for second reading as edited or adopted. Is there any discussion on that motion? Mr. Schwarz >> on policy EBV on the form that's attached to it that Becky made I believe on the item that describe what part of the body was injured including LT or the right side if applicable. What does LT mean? And I know it means left, but it should state left so that there's no confusion as to what side of the body somes to write about. >> Uh, what policy was that, Mr. Schwarz? >> That's with EBV first aid.
020>> Yes. E, EBB. It was for first read, so that'll be voted on in the next one. So, we'll get that corrected for >> Should be corrected. >> Yeah, we'll get that corrected for our next meeting when it's voted on. The motion on the floor is for those in second reading. And there's a motion been made and second to adopt the policies for second reading tonight under E uh excuse me 3773. A lot of E's were read tonight. Is there any further discussion on the second reading policies? Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting the second reading policies say I. >> I oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Item number 3774 gardener e-waste. Mr. Schwarz. >> Oh, well, if you all received a copy of the list that the school department declared as excess surplus or
021actually they're junk. It's hard to believe all those things are junk, but they do wear up and I know that for a fact. So we need a the facilities committee recommends to this true committee as a whole to declare these things surplus for proper disposal. I move that they be declared surplus. >> Thank you very much Mr. Schwarz. Is there a second? Motion by Mr. Schwarz. Second Mr. Lefrenier to declare these items surplus. This is a requirement for us to dispose of these items of property per the general laws of the Commonwealth. Is there any other discussion on said motion hearing? None. All in favor say I. >> I. Oppose. Nay. Motion carries. >> Item number 3775, appointment of Keystone Collaborative. Dr. Pelgro. >> So, normally I'm appointed as Keystone Collaborative um representative for the
022school committee. >> Happy to do it again. >> I make a motion. >> Second to nominate >> superintendent. Motion made by Mr. Lenny, second by Mr. Cormute to uh name and appoint Dr. Pelgro as the school committee's representative to the Keystone Collaborative. Is there any discussion on that motion? >> Hearing none, all in favor say I. >> I. Those nay. >> Motion carries. Uh item 3776, appointment of the CAPS collaborative representative. >> I nominate Veligino. >> I second it. >> Thanks for not making me have a speech. I appreciate that. >> It's a motion made by Mrs. Herd, second by Mrs. Mr. Cormier to appoint Dr. Pelgrino as the gardener school committee's representative to the CAPS collaborative. Is there any discussion on that motion? Hearing none, all in favor? I >> I oppose. Nay. >>
023Motion carries. Item 3777, director of MTSS-PBIS update. This was included in your packet this evening for information. Is there any discussion on that? Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, moving on to item 3778, curriculum coordinators update. This was included in your packet this evening forformational purposes. Is there any questions, comments, or concerns from the members of the committee? Thank you, Dr. Goen, and also for doubling as the clerk for this evening's meeting. Item number 3779, grant administrators update. This was included in your packet this evening forformational purposes. Are there any questions, comments, or concerns from the members of the committee? Moving on to item number 3779, grant admin. We just did that one. Item number 3780, special education update. This was included in your packet this evening forformational purposes. If there are any questions, comments,
024or concerns from members of the committee, Mr. Schwarz, >> I think it's a terrific newsletter that uh M. Director West has published. It's quite informative. My only hope is that the parents concerned about all their children that have disabilities of various sorts that they pay attention to the newsletter and act accordingly. I think it's a terrific piece of information that the parents need to have. >> Thank you, Mr. Schwarz. Any other questions, comments, or concerns. >> Is it possible to go back to the policy thing for a second? Unless there is any objection, we'll go back because there was no vote on this. We can go back to item 3772 which is a again this was included in the packet forformational purposes for this meeting to be voted on at our next meeting. There was
025no final vote taken so this is something that we are allowed to go back to. Mrs. First >> um in policy EBB um LT is an abbreviation for left and we had discussed several times that if there's a um issue with a policy for first read that I would be emailed that information so I could take it to the meeting for second read because it's hard to keep track of some of the stuff during the open meeting. So, I just wanted to remind everyone to please if you see something in um policy for first read to let me know so we can fix it at the second read. >> And um yeah, especially I've noticed too with nurse Becky, she does um medical, you know, >> abbreviations. >> So, >> Mr. Schwarz, >> I forgot
026something as well relative to policies. GBEA that deals with staff ethical conflict of interest. >> Could you please email me with the information? >> Pardon? >> So I can take it to the next meeting. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> I'll u I'll just clarify what I want to say. >> Right. But we discussed not talking about them within the meeting because it's too much for the secretary to try to write and it kind of gets lost. So, shouldn't we just talk about it and it just just to make it better? >> It doesn't it it convolutes things a little bit. >> All right. I'll talk with you after. >> Thank you. And send it to me and and by email. >> Appreciate that. >> Thank you very much. Any other questions, comments, concerns on
027that item or item 3780, the special education update? Moving forward to item G, communications from the superintendent, Dr. Pelgro. >> Um, I don't have a lot to say. You know, as you know, we're going through the budget process right now. Um, you know, and right now is the time where we're looking at, you know, the staff cuts and there will be some staff cuts this year, as I've said in a number of meetings. Um, so this is a particularly difficult time, you know, for the district. Um, trying to make sure that we're doing the best and we're servicing our students the best we can with the um, uh, resources that we have. Um I will say um in going through some research I was looking at Gardenner High School and their um accountability level. So
028all high schools are rated one to 99. Garner High School is rated 45th percentile. There is no other school in the state that has the percentage of p um of high needs that we have and is at the 45th percentile or higher. We are the highest for that rating. there are many schools that have less than us in terms of high need students um that are not doing as well as we are the work and it's um I know um our PBIS and MTSS person talked about some of the outcomes they've done a lot of work at the high school to really have excellent outcomes part of this also has to do with the early college programming um and the new vocational programming that we're um really constantly designing and um uh creating new opportunities
029for students. So I was really pleased when I saw that piece of research and I just felt it was important for me to communicate that. >> Yeah. >> Um >> just I would point out that that accountability rating the number you're giving is the good end meaning you said the accountability rating is 45 >> which is very high good rating. >> Yeah. >> Yep. Um yeah. So I'm I'm I'm really pleased with um their progress and what they've done and I just wanted to mention that. Um other than that I'm going to stop talking and oh actually no one other thing um I was asked at the last meeting about um pledge of allegiance at the elementary school. Um so it's common practice. So in the elementary schools the morning procedure is they have morning
030meeting and they have breakfast in the classroom. So the teachers are all in charge of their own classrooms. They're all they were all informed at the beginning of the year to do the pledge of allegiance. However, as the principal just to send out a reminder because there might have been a teacher, there was a student who reported to his his somebody that they weren't doing it. From what we understand, most teachers are doing it. Um, we're not sure about all. So, we he sent an email reminder to make sure all teachers remember to do the pledge in the morning. Um, as it is state law. So, I just wanted to address that um and let you know that I followed up. >> With that, no more comments. >> Any questions, comments, concerns from the members
031of the committee? Seeing none, we'll move on to the final comments of the members of the school committee, beginning with Mr. Cormier. >> Um, this week I went to the middle school's uh, drama club and they had a great presentation of uh, Finding Nemo and I was really impressed. I underestimated what middle school students can do and it was a great performance and I agree that the high school performance is also phenomenal. And while there I stopped in and watched varsity baseball game and junior varsity baseball game just to uh show the flag so to speak and uh show our support and uh I was impressed. The ball fields are in great shape as reported earlier. So and I actually get commentary from the opposing team on the condition of the ball field. So uh
032thanks very much. I would just ask one other question. If there's anything I can do to better support you or the uh community at large or parents and the students, is there anything we can do to support you to continue our high level of achievement? >> Um I think I think the biggest thing that you can do is just listen to the community and whatever feedback you get, make sure it comes to me so I can act on it. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Clark. Mr. I got to um go to the high school and see the the musical and it was amazing. Um I had taken some friends with me who had never been before and they couldn't believe how wonderful it was. I also posted it on Facebook how great it was
033which led to some other people from outside of Gardener to come to the matinea with their grandkids and see it. Um we are just lucky to have such a talented bunch of kids and Delaney Comeier as um she's a shining star most definitely. Um I know that people have noticed when they walked in the change in the chamber. Um I'm also on the disability commission. and I'm the chairperson for that. And um we had put out a survey on um what what barriers are there in the city. Um and one of them was uh public meetings that there wasn't enough room in the chambers. Um one of our commission members um came up with different plans and so this is the temporary layout for now. um you know providing that it's all accessible you know
034and the building commissioner says it's all up to standards um I'm asking you all to kind of think outside the box a little bit because just because something is ADA compliant does not mean it's it's user friendly. So you can tick off those boxes but if people aren't able to access everything it's it's it's it's really not a a win. um you'll find that there are people with disabilities who want to be part of things but are lacking the access. I mean some people are like well why would you want to change the chamber? Why not? You know if you think in your mind that people with disabilities don't come here. Well, why is that? It's cuz they can't access it. So, it's not, you know, they're they're there and they want to be part
035of things. And um we need to make things a little better. And uh I was pleasantly surprised when I came in and saw this. And I appreciate the city council um you know, for recognizing this and the mayor um for you know, always having my back on these kinds of things. And um as far as the budget goes, it's crappy for everybody, but I really think we have a good cohesive team of people, including us, and I think that as long as we're working together, we'll continue to to make Gardener Public Schools a thing to be proud of. >> Thank you, Mrs. Hurst. Jenny BL, >> um I also got to go and see the Adams family production and it was amazing. Um, I didn't get to see the Finding Nemo, but I did see
036a lot of videos on Facebook and it was adorable. And I think the middle school does an exceptional job for what they have. I mean, it's a small space and with the age group that they have, it's amazing what they can pull off each year. Um, and I will note that, you know, sometimes I hear feedback about why do we spend money on the fields and other things. And um I think what people don't realize is for athletes that are out there that the field conditions can actually it helps to um eliminate some injuries that kids would have if we're not taking care of the fields and that and I think it's a very important thing to do. Um and yeah, I agree the the budget is going to be crappy. Um I think you
037know if you look around, you can read all the news articles about how everywhere is having to cut and the amounts they're having to cut this year. um or well I should say for the next um fiscal year and um yeah it's a it's a big undertaking at this point because we haven't gone through this in a few years now. Um but um yeah I think hopefully we can get creative and figure out different ways to try to make sure we come out in the best way possible. >> Mr. Laspinado, any closing thoughts for the evening? >> Sounds good. Mr. Schwarz, >> I said enough tonight. >> All right, Mr. friend. >> Just one more comment along with what they're saying as far as the budget goes. I think people have to keep in mind
038too that we want the best for our schools also. So when we're making these decisions, making these cuts, they're just not willy-nilly with the the thought that's going into this. And the hurt that goes into these cuts affect us. And so, believe us when we when when you see budgets and cuts that are being made, there's a lot of thought going into this and we want the least impact on negative impact on our system. >> That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Lefreni. That's a great lead into my comments that I have for this evening. Um, again, just to reiterate, while what I say may have some questions arise, this isn't something that I can take questions and comments on because of the open meeting law and how that's uh worded like that. Uh,
039however, uh, as was said earlier, this is going to be a difficult budget year. This is something that I also haven't been shy about saying. I've said at a couple of these meetings, I've said in my weekly addresses to WGAW radio, I've mentioned in the mayor's update. Uh, this is something that it's the first time since I've been mayor uh, that we're looking at staff cuts. And like Mr. a friend of your said, "These are decisions that when we make them, every eye gets dotted four or five or six times. Every tea gets crossed seven, eight or nine times. These are something that every possible option is weighed out before any final decision is made. And while these any any cuts to any budget are painful, just rest assured in knowing that every single point
040of view and every single option and every single outcome was thoroughly thoroughly reviewed before any final decision was made. And I want to thank everyone who's been involved in the budget process so far for doing that extensive review that began back in November and took us to where we are today. This isn't something that happens overnight. These aren't decisions that are made in a vacuum. These are decisions that are reviewed as thorough as possible. In terms of the insurance, uh there are a couple of options that are available for the city moving forward. And I held a couple of meetings that all of our employees and our retirees have been invited to so far. There was one last week. There was one earlier today at 4 p.m. There is one tomorrow at 1 p.m. And
041that one tomorrow uh for anyone who was unable to make it to either the two last week or that one tomorrow is going to be recorded and uploaded to the city's YouTube channel for anyone who is not able to attend any of the three either due to living out of state, work and family commitments or any other reason but would like that information so that it's clear and as transparent as possible what our insurance situation is in terms of our health insurance and how we can be able to move forward with that matter. There are four options available for us for our insurance. Two involve staying with two or potentially three involve staying with Bluec Cross. One involves leaving Blue Cross. The city is a self-insured entity. That means that we have our own insurance
042trust fund that we maintain on our own. That trust fund is funded through the employee deductions that we take out of payroll deductions as well as the city's budget uh that we budget for the city's share of our health insurance costs for our employees and our retirees. 25% is born from the payroll deductions. 75% is born by the city. That is the system that we would be maintaining no matter what option we go forward with. The um the rates that we initially got from Blue Cross Blue Shield for our self-insured plan, if we make no changes whatsoever, are a 12.5% increase from last year's rates. What this means is between fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2027, insurance will have gone up $5.5 million in the city's budget side of things. And that money can
043only come from some places. The our our new receipts and our new money that we take in a year every year does not add up to $5.5 million. we've been absor able to absorb those increases on a more sustainable basis because of the good financial decisions that have been made in the city over the course of these past several years. If you look at several other communities and municipalities across Massachusetts, these have been difficult decisions that have had to be made for the last four or five years and in some cases almost on an annual basis. Uh look at the town of Rutland who's now on their third override tried uh in the last five years because they went for an override. It passed but then it ended up not being enough because of the
044next year's costs. You look at the similar decision that was made of the town of Athal this past week where an override failed uh 222 to600 uh because again insurance costs played a big part in that. Uh, if you look at several different municipalities in Massachusetts, almost everyone, and I would guarantee all of the 351 are having some type of discussion right now about insurance costs that are going up. We'll get to the main drivers of those after in a brief, but again, these will all be answered more thoroughly in the presentation that I'll be giving uh that'll be recorded and that I have given to the employees. So, option one, we make no plan change designs. We do nothing. We go up 12 and a half% in our insurance costs. Option two is we
045convene a uh committee that's known as the public employee committee. The public employ employee committee is a committee that's established by state law and that says that the president of all 12 of the city's employment unions and one representative of the retirees of the city meet and we present plan change design plan chain plan design changes to the public employee committee for them to vote. When that vote takes place, the representatives to this committee are done on a weighted basis because the teachers union has a lot more members than the animal control union does. So, we did the math out. Retirees always get an automatic 10%. That's set by state law. So, the retiree voice is always at least 10% of that vote. So, when that vote happens and the retiree representative votes, that vote
046counts as 10 votes. And you don't get any more than 100 votes. The GA unit A is 47.9% of the vote. So that one vote from the GA unit A will count as 47.9 votes towards the total 100. GA unit B is 16.0 and it goes on from there based on their share of the total active employees who are eligible for insurance. Employees who are not eligible for insurance do not count towards that calculation. Employees who are eligible for insurance but do not take insurance do still count towards that calculation in case they do go on the city's insurance. That's again a process defined by state law. We have no control over how that process works. A majority of that weighted vote is what's needed to change those plans. So 50 votes of that total
047100 votes at the end is what's required to change those plans. The proposal that's come from our health insurance brokers that's being put out there as option two is that we remain with Blue Cross Blue Shield, but we match the group insurance commission's benchmark plan. The group insurance commission is the state's insurance. That's the all state employees in 67 cities and towns have um employees who are in that pool. If we were to do that, what those plan design changes would be, if you are on a family plan, your annual medical deductible would go from 300 to 600. If you are on, excuse me, if you were on an individual plan, your medical deductible would annually go from 300 to 600. If you are on a family plan, your medical deductible is currently $900. That
048would go from $900 to $1,000. Specialty co-pays would go from $35 to $60. And there would be a new annual prescription deductible of $100 per year for an individual plan or 200 uh or $200 per year for a family plan. If we make all of those changes, increasing the medical deductibles, increasing the specialty co-pays, and adding the one the annual prescription deductibles, the increase in insurance goes from 12.5% to 10%. That saves the city on our budget side of things around 300,000 to $350,000. And it also is a while it is an increase in terms of those added costs and still a 10% increase, it still does not equal the 12 and a half% increase that would be if we made no changes. Option three is for the city to leave Blue Cross and join
049the group insurance commission. That has around 600,000 employees from the state in those 67 communities across Massachusetts in it. So there's a wider uh employee pool in that. Uh there is uh eight different plans for active employees and four different plans for retirees within the group insurance commission. Employees would have the employees and retirees would have the option to pick the plan that most relates to their specific needs and the rate increase is dependent on what plan the employees pick. So for instance, if we join the group insurance commission and I join their Fallon plan, but Dr. Pelgro joins their Harvard Pilgrim plan, his rate may go up 4%, my rate may go up 8%. It's dependent on the plan that you choose. If you are an active employee, the group insurance commission does not
050cover dental. So you would still have blue cross dental but group insurance employee uh health. If you are a retiree, they do both health and dental. Why they do both don't do both? I don't know, but that's the system that's set up. The fourth option that's an option available for us, but it's almost an unrealistic option in some cases. If we want to stay with Blue Cross, but go above and beyond the group insurance commission's benchmark plan. So if we want to do option two plus do option two and more. So if we wanted to say let's take a individual medical deductible and instead of going from 300 to 600 go from 300 to 750 since that 750 is higher than the group insurance commission's benchmark. Any plan changes that go above and beyond that
051benchmark require the city to meet individually with the 12 different employee unions that we have all in separate instances. submit a proposal to them and get them all to agree. And we need 100% agreement from all 12 unions on an identical health plan. If 11 agree but one doesn't, no health plan changes are made. And that's how state law is written for that one. And again, the savings on that one could be variable depending on the uh proposal that's agreed to in the end. So those are the four options that are available to the city. how those options would take place. If we go with option one and simply increase rates 12 and a half percent with no planned design changes, that's simply mayoral approval. If we wanted to just say we're going to keep
052everything the way it is and go forward with the 12%. The only thing that they need is my yes and then we notify the members of the uh the insurance advisory commission and the public employee commission of the change that was made and that's all it is where costs have gone up $5.5 million and the costs of the individual employees payroll budgets have increased substantially. I do not feel comfortable making that decision alone in a vacuum at least without employee input. That's why we're having these information sessions. That's why we're having these videos issued. If option two or option three were to take place, so the plan design changes where we stay with Bluec Cross but increase deductibles and co-pays for a specialty co-pays only or we leave Blue Cross completely and go to the
053group insurance commission. That is no longer involving the mayor at all. I chair the public employee committee as a non- voting member. I don't get a say in that. What happens is there needs to be a vote of at least 50% of that weighted vote that we talked about earlier in order to either make those plan design changes to go from 10 uh 12 to 10 or leave Blue Cross and go to the GIC. And if we go to go to option four, as we said earlier, it's an individual negotiation with the various different unions that we have. And that timeline is solely dependent on however long it takes to get a unanimous agreement between the 12 unions. Those are the options that are before us. Those are what's being weighed. The actual presentation is
054uh on average right now an hour and 15 minutes which includes the questions at the end. Uh but if anyone is interested in seeing that that will be published on the city's YouTube uh by the end of the week uh actually by the end of hopefully two days from now. Uh we're asking individuals to get their feedback to their representative and that by individuals I mean our retirees and our employees to get their feedback to the members of the public employee commission who again are the presidents or stewards of the employee unions or to Mr. France Seir who's the retirees representative. So by contacting Cheryl Bossy and the retirement board by the end of this week early next week we can start to schedule the insurance advisory committee meeting and the public employee committee meeting
055by mid next week. A decision has to be made by May 1st. Uh ideally that is a flexible date but we need at least 60 days notification for uh for plan chain designs. We need 30 days for open enrollment. Those can overlap. But say we don't get something finished by May 1st where a vote is taken and we get a vote by May 15th. Well, we need at least 60 days. So that means we'd have a 12 and a half% increase on July 1 until July 15th when it would drop down to a 10%. If we decided to go with option two, but we didn't make the decision until May 15th. It just pushes that back a little bit. There are a lot of other nuances with that. I understand insurance is confusing. I have
056learned a lot more about insurance in the last three months uh than I thought I was going to be uh digging that deep into the weeds for. But this needs to be a conversation that's outside of just the mayor's office. While this while a simple decision can be made, this isn't something that requires a simple decision. This is something that we just need to make sure we're preparing for. Other communities have waited too long before making a decision and instead of being proactive, they're now scrambling trying to be reactive. We are not at a point right now where we're breaking the bank and put breaking the glass, pulling the alarms and saying we just need something to happen right now or it's going to be devastating. Are there going to be cuts next year? Yes.
057Is it absolutely devastating to the city right now? What's going on? We can still get by and we can still live and we're not at that break the glass, sound the alarm point, but I don't want to get to that point yet, which is why we're having this conversation now so that we don't have to be somewhere 2, three years from now that we're breaking the glass. We need to be proactive and I wouldn't be doing my job as mayor if I wasn't trying to be proactive about this, especially decision this big. So, if anyone has any questions on this afterward, I'd highly recommend reaching out to my office. And again, uh the information session will be emailed out to everyone once the link is posted on the city's website as well. Thank you. Sorry
058that took so long. I try not to say that long in my final comments, but this is a very complicated thing, but I felt it needed to be said and it needed to be said publicly. With that, is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion made and seconded. All those in favor say I. oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Thank you all very much. We'll see you at our next meeting on Monday, May 11th at 6 p.m. here in the chamber.