001Good evening. The time is now 510. Today is Thursday, November 20th and we are going to hold on to a special call meeting for the Alice Independent School District for this meeting to be held in our boardroom located at number two trail, Texas 78332. This meeting will posted to begin at 5:00 PM. I'd like to welcome everyone here in the forum and everyone who's watching online to our meeting. Item number one on the agenda. The this meeting has now been called to order. Item number two, the roll call and to establish a quorum. I myself am present. Excuse me, my pen is working. Jennifer, we have Dr. Ania Trovinho. Absent is vice president Mr. Herman Ariano. Absent is secretary Mr. Sid Samura. Present is trustee Mr. Adrien Pena. Present is trustee Mrs. Deborra Getta. Present
002is trustee Mr. Cody Reeves. And present is trustee Mr. Lee Ram. At this time we have a form. On to item number three. I pledge of allegiance to the United States to its flag and I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. I aliance to thee Texas one state one and indivisible. On to item number four, the public comment. At this time, it's time to pass on the public signing sheet. There's no one who has signed up to speak at the public comment. On to item number five. presentations. Dr. >> Yes. Good evening, members of the board, members of the county. Today, we have two important topics to discuss with the board
003as far as future facilities and future health insurance possibilities for our staff. So, the first item is a health insurance presentation and discussion. This will be a presentation uh for the board to start evaluating possible services or changing the services for the upcoming school year and that would be for the 2627 school year. If uh we all know that insurance prices have gone up for the last multiple years and last year the board was very courteous enough and you know frugal with their money enough that we were able to provide $75 more a month per employee. So our contributions per employee is $375 a month. Nonetheless, the premiums continue to go up and we're trying to look at different options that districts may have to cut those for the staff and yet continue to provide
004quality services uh for our employees or maybe even better than what we've been getting. And we have looked at the by boards and co-ops throughout the state to see what can be an option that we may have. Currently, we have been with TRS and we've been with TRS for a while, but those costs continue to rise. So, what can we do as an entity to continue uh continue to provide services for our employees, but at a smaller cost to them so they can see more of the raises as opposed to it going all to insurance. And so we have invited uh Shaina Robinson who is part of those co-ops to share what her company offers that maybe we could entertain because if we will be making a change to our insurance carrier, those changes would
005need to be done before or announced anyway by December 31st. And because of that, we do need we we're on a timeline and then um we would bring something out to the board next month if that is a recommendation. So, Miss Robertson, >> thank you. Good evening, Madam President, uh Dr. Trevinho and distinguished board, thank you very much for the invitation to come and hopefully shed some light on um a very difficult subject. Right. So, we all know we need insurance and I believe it needs to be affordable for everybody, but it also has to have robust benefits in it that we can access or we really don't have insurance at all. So, with that, I'm going to jump right in. Um, there's a lot that I want to cover this evening. If there's something
006that you want to know a little more detail about, please stop me. The most important thing that I want you to hear is there are opportunities out there. You are no longer in Hotel California. You can leave TRS. So, about four years ago, they actually said you could do that. And the caveat they added this year is you don't have to wait five years. Let's say that we took you out this year and you all decided, wow, we want to go back for some reason or another. You now have the ability to do that the following year. So it really gives a lot of confidence to being able to get out and try something new. Um I have left a packet in front of all of you all and then um we'll obviously be up
007on the board as well. So predictability the right way. what we are able to offer and what we're offering to our clients right now is locked in at least two-year guarantees. That gives you that two-year um confidence that you go ahead and come out. Everybody worries about their um premiums inflating the following year and then not being able to be affordable. No deductibles, no c-ay for primary care. customizable uh customizable networks as well as cost savings based on the leverage that we're going to be able to utilize by removing one of the big systems out of the plan. So the more that um we can narrow it but keep it robust to who all you all want to see then we're able to reduce those overall premiums u at the same time being able to
008provide robust coverage. Oh I'm sorry I should probably move my slides. So um something that was very important to Dr. Trevvinho was making sure that we were not going to go self-funded. So the first thing I told her was I can absolutely promise you I'm not even going to make that an option. But I want everybody to understand what we probably are going to look at if this is something you all want to pursue for sure fully funded but also level funded. And there's a little bit of differences. So I want to go over that in the next slide. It gives you all three of the options that we have as insurance brokers. Self-funded where we know what that is, right? you're going to pay every single claim individually that comes in. You have a
009bank account that stays open and they just draw your money out every Monday. For really big groups, that's a good thing. It's not so good, I say, for groups under 2,000. So then the next option that we have is level funding. This is where we're seeing a lot of opportunity and a lot of customization where we can create something for Alice ISD that fits for your employees and your family members. The other nice thing about level funded, it is going to be one cost per month. you're going to know exactly what that bill is. It never goes up. It never changes. So, it stays consistent and it's predictable for your budgeting purposes. The other nice thing about level funded is if we were to hit a threshold below 70% of what your total premium is,
010we actually get 50% of that money back. We can't do that with fully funded. Fully funded is still a great option. They just seem to come in a little bit higher for the premiums for some reason or another, but just know that we have two of those at our disposal. And that would be the RFP that we would be submitting in January if you all chose that you wanted to uh venture out and do something that we believe would be in the best interest of your employees. You can see across the board right now the rates that we're able to offer in your area to include Greenville ISD, which is North Texas, right now are at an average of 25% less than what you're going to pay for TRS next year. So unfortunately, we know
011that with TRS, you're going to go up anywhere from 10 to 13% consistently across the board. I just listened to one of their presentations about three weeks ago, and uh they made the comment that next year they're looking at anywhere from a 10 to 15% increase. Um their comment was, you know, that they've got a large pool that they've got to cover. They've got expensive uh employees across the state, so they've got to be able to balance that out. That being said, we know that they're never going to get any cheaper. So, um this is a great opportunity to find something that is more affordable, make sure that everybody has access as well as um has uh better benefits. We integrate attentive into our medical proposals and the reason is is because it gives you
012free 247 tele medicine for everyone in your family. If you are raising a grandchild, if you are raising nieces and nephews, if you don't have your children on the plan, if you don't have the plan at all, you have tele medicine 24/7 free. It never cost you a dime. You're speaking to a physician because we want to make sure everybody has access to care. The other thing that we want to try to avoid is people using the emergency room for a primary care visit. I tell people all the time, you should never go to the emergency room unless you have a cut off limb, a stroke, or a heart attack. Sounds a little aggressive, but we see more um sinocitises and broken toes in the emergency room than we ever do true emergencies. We all
013know and I I was a hospital executive for 14 years. Walking through that threshold is an $1,800 expense for your plan. So, the better managers we can be of our plans and understanding that and trying to be good stewards for everybody, then the more manageable and the the way we can maintain our premiums. So um we add attentive into our plan so that we have access to that tele medicine as well as mental health. Once again 24/7 no co-ay everybody in your family it doesn't matter if they're on the plan or not. We know that one of the hardest appointments to get right now is mental health and it's the one of the most critical. So what we're hearing across the board if you have United Blue Cross Blue Shield Etna it can take you
014six months to get into a provider. Some people don't have six months. So we want to make sure that you have access through tele medicine. Um, you can actually zoom with a provider, you or any one of your family members at no cost whatsoever. So, basically, you're also going to get extra money in your paycheck because we're going to reduce your u taxes and give you more net pay. You've got the tele medicine and mental health. It benefits your district because you're going to save on matching those taxes. They're also going to lower your claims. The beauty of attentive is none of those claims we're talking about. If you end up uh uh true story, my husband ended up getting uh poison ivy as we're leaving to go skiing. By the third day, he was
015a red polka dot and then they were starting to turn into boils and we won't go in any further than that. It was miserable. So, we were calling tele medicine on a daily basis trying to figure out what were we going to do to take care of him. Every one of those calls hit our claims. So although we didn't have a co-pay, the $75 uh cost that that tele medicine had already scheduled with TRS and there's obviously one TRS that was United was still hitting the back of our claims. Having a tenant means none of those calls ever from tele medicine or those mental health ever hit our claims. Once again, saving money so we maintain those premiums. So what we've tried to do at Robinson Rucker firm is think outside the box and be
016very innovative so once again we can be good stewards to your premium. And then why choose a tenant? Why is it something that we believe that we should add in? It's great for recruitment and retention. The other thing about a tenant is it comes with a comprehensive care plan uh management. It comes with a full EAP program. So if you're currently paying for that, um you can uh start saving that money and put that towards something else. And something else that we see high utilization is is called Anura. You hold your cell phone up to your face. It takes 30 seconds to scan. gives your blood sugar, your blood pressure, and eight other screens within 30 seconds. Our diabetics love it because they don't have to prick their fingers anymore. It is a paycheck um
017reduction, and I'm not going to go into all of that. If you all decide that you want to move forward, then uh we would go extensively through that as well as we would explain that to all of the employees as well in their information session. Plan suggestions for cost savings. So, some of the things that I've learned over the years, 14 years hospital executive, 10 years, prior to that, I was a pharmaceutical rep and now I've been in the insurance business for 10 and owned my own company. So, things that we know are really important. We want to do an on-site enrollment. We want to sit with every single employee and I want them to tell me all of their medical history and their family's medical history because the more that we can find out,
018then the better plan we can suit you for and make sure that you're in the right plan for your overall expenditure throughout the year. We're also going to be able to gain that information so that we can help you through um our our nurse extension throughout the year, biometric screenings and health risk assessments. If we can prick your finger and find out what your cholesterol is and your blood pressure is and your triglycerides, then we can um help manage exactly what you look like on the inside and HR is on the outside. With that information right there, we have found I can tell you we uh one of my companies is a dispensing facility. They make Coca-Cola machines and we had 13 people that had blood sugar over 700 and didn't know it. For those
019of you that don't have diabetics in your family, because I happen to have two children that are diabetics, your blood sugar should be 100. So, it's amazing what we find out when we prick your finger, particularly for those that don't go to the doctor. So, just doing those two screenings can be very advantageous and then we can get you the help that you need so that you don't end up in the emergency room um with an ICU visit. I tell everybody an ICU biz bed is the most expensive you'll ever lay in. It's $12,500 a night. So, we want to keep you out of there. Um, some other suggested things are nurse consults. Uh, annual physical. We are big proponents of that and think that everybody should do that. And then we also want to
020utilize those screenings. We want to make sure that um people are getting their mammogram, their papsmiths, their PSAs, their colonoscopies. And we like to reward people for doing that. Remember, I'm able to see everybody's claims every Tuesday. So, we stay on top of that and we intervene when somebody needs help. Um, as well as, uh, if we see that they're getting their screenings, then we like to reward them. Recommended. Uh, these are some of the questions that we've received in the past. Um, when we've had these same conversations about taking people out of TRS that have been in it for many years. What if my current physician isn't a network? Then we're going to go solicit them and ask them if they want to be a network. I will tell you all of the TPAs
021that I currently work with are paying more than Blue Cross Blue Shield, Etna, and United. It does not mean that we won't have a large carrier as a wrap. And I'll explain that in just a minute. But when you go with one of those entities like a Blue Cross Blue Shield through uh TRS right now, unfortunately, they don't have the flexibility of adding and uh dropping doctors. And we do. We have not had one doctor in Greenville that we didn't add. And we had 125 on the list. We were able to add all 125 except for one. It was an OBGYn and she chose to drop um Hunt regional which was the hospital system that's there in Greenville and so chose not to be in our plan. So it had nothing to do with the
022plan. What if my specialist is not in network? Once again, we're going to ask them to join the network. If not, we're going to help them find a comparable provider. What if an employes in the middle of care treatment and needs to stay in that facility? We get a continuation of care. We are not going to tell somebody that's in the middle of a cancer treatment, a heart treatment, or about to deliver a baby that they cannot go to the institution that they want to. That would always be a continuation of care and they would finish their complete um uh whatever their uh care was that that was needed for that condition at that facility with that physician. If they needed to go to MD Anderson, that's called a waiver, and we would make sure
023that they had that. We would just call MD Anderson and get a cash price in advance so that we had could build that into our plan. And then the last thing that people like to ask is what kind of medication is not on the list. That happens on occasion. That happens to you guys at TRS whenever they change your um PBM provider. So Novalog and Humalogue are two real life examples, right? Those are both insulin. They both do the exact same thing. They just happen to be made by two different companies. It might be that you're on Humalogue today and the brand provided uh in our new insurance might be Humalogue. So, you would just have your provider rewrite their prescription or the pharmacist would switch it at the counter. Ensuring quality healthcare. What are
024some of the things that we've done to make employees lives easier, make sure they have access to care, and make sure that we can keep our premiums manageable. So, we are currently using several international companies. Global RX is one of them. What they're able to do is get drugs 50 to 60% less expensive than um what our big providers are getting them for. ways. What they're basically doing is going and purchasing drugs from Norway. They're using Mexico. They're using Canada and about five other countries that of the medications that were made in the United States shipped over there that now they have an excess of. We're buying them back at 50% of the cost. And then guess what? We're shipping them directly to your employees homes and they have zero copay. So their um compliance
025and it goes way up. So we know that they're taking their medication. They're able to afford it. They don't have a co-ay and we're only spending half the cost. So, the plan is is uh saving a lot of money. Another thing that we've done with some uh employees that have very high cost, some of those we're shifting over to the ACA. So, businesses have been doing this for 13 years. So, for those that uh ACA plan would be better suited for their family members. If we're able to switch them over to the ACA and that is a better plan for whatever condition it is that they have, then we switch them over. if they come off of the district's plan. Once again, um it ends up being an advantage for both entities. And the last
026but not least, we really want to look for um different entities that have zero co-pays, open access. We don't want HMOs anymore. I'm not going to bring you any of our plans that have an HMO where you have to go to a doctor first to see a specialist, as well as zero deductible. Right now, those employees that have um TRS on the primary care plan, which is going to be about 80% of your employees, I can assure you it is across the board, they have a $2500 deductible for those of you that don't know, before they get any medications, unless it's generics. So, they have to spend $2500 before they can pick up a prescription at the prescription cost. So, we want to remove all of those deductibles. On the primary plus side, it's a
027$200 deductible. Yes, this has been done. We are creating networks all over the place. These are just a few of the different districts that are currently using um their own uh district plan and um get to build and design it around their employees. So, what are the rates? What are some of the things that we feel confident that we know that we can offer? Right now, Kingsville ISB as of January the 1st will start on one of our plans. They're you using EST 100. Their wrap is united. And it's important that everybody hear me say that because as we talk about TPA running our plan instead of a big BUA which is a Blue Cross United and Etna, they will always be wrapped with a major carrier. And the reason is we have college kids
028that don't live in the area. You might have stepchildren that don't live in the area. You might travel frequently. You might have a spouse that lives six months somewhere else due to a job. So we want to make sure that regardless of where you're at in the United States, you have full access to all healthcare that you need. So, you're always going to be wrapped with a major network. Currently, we're using Sigma, United, and Etna um as our wraps for uh different entities that we have. But most importantly, right now, the SC 100 standard plan that they're going to use in Kingsville, that would be very comparable to your primary care plan. The um employee rate is $431. Um and so the ESC high plan is going to be $4.94 and their high deductible plan
029is $435. And in just a second, I'm going to show you what the comparisons would be to what you all have right now. There is no primary care required. It is not an HMO. It is a PO open network. They have a $25 deductible. Uh I'm sorry, primary care instead of a 30, $50 uh specialty instead of a 70. Urgent care is $50 and once again, they do not have that drug deductible. And then they've got the free tele medicine. Unfortunately, with HBH fees, we know that you have to hit that uh minimum for the federal government. So, you've got to hit that $3,300 threshold before you get any benefits except the tele medicine is still going to be free even for that uh those that choose the HBHP plan. Greenville ISD, another one of
030our clients uh and they've already gone live. So, um I don't know if you all are aware or not, in the Bay White area, which is kind of that Dallas metroplex, they pay the highest premiums and um their cost for healthcare is much more expensive than everybody else's. So, we were able to lower their premiums almost by $100 across the board. So, they went from 5.56 this year to 464. They have a zero deductible if they use Hunt Regional, which is in Greenville. If they use Baylor, Scott, and White, the most preferred in all of Dallas and Fort Worth, if they use the Methodist Hospital, or if they use uh Spawn, which is your equivalent to Christ, they have a zero deductible, you don't pay for an MRI, you don't pay for lab work, you
031don't uh have to pay a deductible to go in and deliver a baby. So, what it's doing is getting people the care that they need because they've avoided it because they couldn't meet or afford the deductible. No deductible on the drugs, no deduct, no deductible on their healthcare. They also have primary care visits of $25, specialty at 50, and then their drug costs are uh $10 for generic, 60 for brand, and then 30% um after that. Uh so, and then once again, the ESC buyup plan is very similar. It's just the deductible a little bit lower. I don't encourage anybody to go in that plan because I don't know why you'd pay more for a zero deductible when you have a zero deductible in the cheaper plan. So, we've switched the majority of people over.
032Um, so those that were on the primary plus are now saving themselves about another $300 a month. You can see there kind of what the comparison is compared to uh what Greenville's costs are this year as well. Another new carrier um that we um have recently been introduced to and it's really exciting. It's called Curative and so they operate a little bit differently. So it is a gentleman out of Europe uh born in France that um became a billionaire through uh some of the uh very uh creative IT things that he invested in and and designed and so he is single-handedly funding curative. He believes in health care for everybody and he seems to have a really good handle on how to manage it. So with curative it's zero deductible no matter what you do.
033If you go in to have a baby, you pay zero. You don't even owe the 30% co-pay. Zero deductible on your meds. You can either mail order them from his pharmacy that's in uh Austin or you can use your local um grocery store. So, they've done all the cost comparisons and they know that the most the most cost affordable are going to be your HBS, your Walmarts, um the other grocery store chains, uh Costco, Sam's. Um, but they're not going to have access to the CVS and the Walgreens. Zero deductible for your meds. So, they're really putting their money where their mouth is. The other thing that they're doing that's very creative and different is if you want to go outside of network, let me give you a real life example. They are not in
034network with Baptist in San Antonio. They're in network with Christ. They're in network with university. They're in network with Methodist. They are not in network with Baptist. But if you have delivered three babies at Baptist and you are adamant about using your OB, they have a credit card that every single employee gets. They call ahead, they negotiate a rate with Baptist, you hand them that credit card and the full entire amount goes on that credit card. You still get to go where you wanted. You get to go out of network and you don't pay a deductible. So they believe that they negotiate that rate ahead of time. They keep an employee happy as well as that uh that entity. they decide what they're going to pay that entity instead of that entity deciding what they're
035going to pay them. So that's how they're managing cost across the United States. So they have White House ISD is the example that I use right here. Um currently they have the city of far uh city of La Hoya, city of um Sherryand and there's about five others in the valley. Uh they have Berg Ogden is one of their current clients. They took over most of region 12. Uh those groups that were in that big giant co-op that blew up. And so they are gaining business across the um uh across the state of Texas. They've got over 100,000 lives and they started three years ago. So um that is another option that we have that I am very excited about. And the rates that they are looking at would be about $400 for that uh
036primary care plan that would be equivalent to TRS. You can see here kind of um on the next page what that plan would look like as well as everybody gets that credit card. The other thing that they're doing with that credit card is if you go into your doctor's office and they're out of network and it's an orthopod that you really need to see because they specialize in uh hips and uh nobody else does in the area. Once again, you're going to walk in, you're going to ask that doctor for their cash pay price, and believe it or not, it's always cheaper than what we're going to pay with a negotiated rate. You're going to hand them that credit card. you're going to ask them to charge you the cash pay price. You're going to
037use that credit card and uh the credit card is built back to the owner of the company. The employee doesn't pay a dime. So, they are really trying to get aggressive and utilize um uh access to health care so that we do the right thing and we don't delay the care that we need and they give you the money and the access to be able to do that. Right here is what you're currently paying. Then we've added that 10% that TRS has promised us that they're going to go up. I must have gotten excited on my um my my clicker. Um and then uh compared to that, we just went ahead and threw the Kingsville rates on there so you can kind of see where you guys will be next year. So, uh we would
038be able um at a minimum to save the employees about $130 on that basic plan, which is where about 80% of your employees are going to be. Remember, zero deductible um and no deductible on your medications. Um, and it's going to be an open network. Uh, as well as on the high plan that they have, which will be equivalent to the primary plus, they're at $4.95. So, you'd be saving our employees about $170 >> a month. >> And then >> a month, right? >> Yes, ma'am. A month. Thank you. And then on the HGHP, they be about $160 $140. So, um, across the board, uh, employing children is always very important to me. We have a lot of single parents that are trying to take care of their children. These prices are down uh $300
039to $400 compared to what TRS is going to be next year. So the choice is really to change or not to change, right? So, if we are able to give you something that's 25% less expensive, open access, you're going to have a PTO network, we're going to be able to um remove the HMO model and uh drop your cost um by 10 to 13% overall across the board. Um then we believe that the annual premium increases are not worth it. the expensive expensive deductibles are not fair to employees and then the rigid networks that are hard to get in and hard to find a provider. So the security for the first time of being able to come to out of TRS is now really given back to the hands of the board because you can
040come out yet you can still go back should you choose to later. So, the real question is, are you ready to do it? Definitely something to think about and um obviously we've got about a month uh for questions and um any other kind of investigating referrals if you want to call other school districts. Um so, we can provide you whatever that is that you're interested in. Um, but I can tell you that uh leaving TRS um has been a a very very beneficial opportunity for everybody that we've worked with. We've taken out about 10 school districts now uh across the state. Um Lada is one of our clients in the valley and we go all the way up to Greenville and we're working with Crowley ISTD right now as well and then we've got districts
041all in between. Um but uh we believe in access for everybody and we believe that it should be affordable. >> Do you have any questions >> with y'all's yearly on the physicals? Do you all offer like a wellness plan discounts? Like if if they are non-tobacco users, uh they get like $50 off a month or >> Yes, sir. So, what we typically do if you do the biometric screening in the HR, then you're going to see a 25% $25 reduction on your premium. If you have a spouse, then you both have to have it, right? It can't just be one or the other. Um, but yes, sir, we have all kinds of incentives because we truly believe if we can get you to do that, then we're going to be able to get you the
042help that you may not even know that you need. >> New Bronul's um, uh, electricity is one of our clients. Um, so we do the wellness for them. And, uh, you're talking about average age is about 26 years old. It's the guys that are climbing the poles, right? Honest to God, I'm not making fun of them because I'm a Big Red user or used to being I try not to drink Big Red anymore. Um, they walk in and grab a Big Red and a bag of chips and that's usually their lunch because that's the only thing they have time for. When we did their biometric screenings in their HR, 26 men had blood pressure over 300. We we were driving people to the hospital in New Bronals. I'm not exaggerating. So, it's the unknown that
043ends up being that ICU visit or, you know, pray to God that it doesn't end up being something worse. But if we can prick your finger and get a little bit of information and then you can help out with an H1 and tell us exactly what your lifestyle is, it can be an absolute game changer and we can get you to the help that you need. >> Any other questions? >> This is a one-year commitment. >> Yes, sir. It can be whatever kind of commitment you want. We have two-year locked in rates and that's what we've required from the uh carriers that we're utilizing because we think that's important. We want to see consistency, right? We don't want people to jump ship after the first year. Um but at the same time, you can go
044back into TRS after one year. You have that flexibility for the first time. >> When you talk about your annual exams, right, whether the papsmear mass or PSA colonoscopy, do you kind of remind employees of that or you know can you send your incentive you know give them some form of incentive you know because I agree with you if you you know get yourself checked every year then you're going to be healthier because you're able to cure whatever ailments may be affecting you. So can you talk to you a little bit more about that? >> Yes ma'am. Absolutely. So, we have a texting system that we purchased um at my company and so we're able to text out 5,000 10,000 people at a time. We don't overdo it because it's the last thing that people
045want is to get a whole bunch of texts. Um but we do friendly reminders throughout the year, usually centered around whatever that month is, right? So, breast cancer awareness month we know is October. So, we're going to remind you, we're going to ask you to go go grab a girlfriend and go get your mammogram together or at least book the appointment. We're going to ask those gentlemen um to go get your PSA. It's a blood draw when you do your annual physical. make sure that they draw her, make sure that you get your results. Colonoscopies, that's after 50, you know. Um, and nowadays, you can get the box and you can do it at home and you don't even have to do the the entire prep and take a day after a day out of
046work. So, we're constantly reminding, we're also on your campus at least four times a year. We're going to do that annual enrollment. Then, we come back to check on everybody. We come back to prep for the next enrollment, and then we come back to enroll. We are making those reminders, and we also come and do a biometric screening on site. So, we're not going to ask you to go to CVS. I'm not going to ask you to go to your doctor and and fax in your paperwork. We actually bring a biometric team to every one of your facilities because we want to make it convenient so we get higher participation. And um you'll laugh when I say this, but we also make sure everybody knows that it is not a drug test. This is merely
047a biometric screening. We have a lot of people that choose not to participate. I don't don't have any idea, you know, uh that that what we use is a finger prick to find out five different measurements and that's it. So, um we do a lot of on-site reminders. We do info sessions ahead of time. Um so, there's lots of opportunity for interaction. And then we're on call 24/7. People laugh when I say that. Um you know, when we get the calls at 1:00 in the morning or 4 o'clock in the morning, people have lost their ID card. And guess where they're at? They're in the emergency room. That's right. Um, so it's critical. So we get every single call that comes in our office on our cell phones and unfortunately every week somebody gets uh
048gets uh pinpointed by the short stick of the draw. I'm joking. Um, and then they're in charge of phones for that entire week regardless of what the time is. Obviously our office is open 7 to 5, but anything after that, we're going to grab those calls so that if somebody needs something and we've got access to it, we're going to be able to get it to them. We can get you an ID card if I'm on a roller coaster. So, and we've done that a thousand times because that's 90% of the calls that we get after 5:00 or I've lost my ID card or I'm at the doctor and forgot to grab my wallet or my husband's got my card. Um, I mailed my my card to my child at college. So, we're able to
049email those to somebody within seconds or take a picture and a text and send them over. We are always available because we know how important it is. >> That's awesome. So employees that come in mid year or like let's say it's a random hire, would you be able to send somebody in to like >> Absolutely. Thank you for asking. Hill ISD was one of our clients. So we committed to coming once a month and we would either do all of the new hires then or at least they could come and ask questions. They also call our office. So Greenville just calls our office and we go up there well I'm up there about every other week. Um but we go up there quarterly as well. Um but we would be willing to come here at
050least once a month to sit down with those new hires. We really like that face to face or we do a zoom. Uh some people just prefer a phone call. Um but yes ma'am we are touching every single person. Um we take that on. We have employee navigator is our database that we use. So we would load everybody in there. Then we would come on site and enroll everybody. So we've got all of their information and then we would consistently do that with all new hires. So, we're communicating that back and forth to your HR department and your um CFO terminations and new hires. We want to we want to be an extension of your HR office so that we're not adding any work on to them and we're not burdening them with something that
051they weren't already doing. Um, and we're very so this would be very similar to TRS from the fact that it's just going to be one bill a month, right? This is not a self-funded where you're trying to keep up with different bills and you've got a different account that's open and you've got to make sure you've got enough money that's seated in it. it would just be your consistent bill a month. Curative has gotten really creative. So, they made the statement that, hey, you know what? We know that school districts have to draw that money out of paychecks first before they've got the money accessible. We don't even send a bill until the second month. So, there are these carriers really want to change lives and that's why they've created the different opportunities they have.
052That's who we've chosen to work with. Please don't get me wrong. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield at Southside. Um, we have United, one of my smaller entities. We just put Sigma in at an extreme. It's a it's a they a manufacturing of um equipment. They they will do the halftime show for the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. We're going to do what's right for that entity. All of the others that we have, we're using a TPA and creating that network and that uh that premium for that particular school district. >> And and this is just medical and pharmacy, right? Y'all don't have anything to do with the vision and gentle or >> sir, we can do it all, but I'm not here to disrupt anything that anybody's already doing. No, >> I am not here
053to challenge um the rates that you all have currently or your provider. We've actually reviewed your rates and you've got really good rates. >> Okay. >> Very impressive. >> So, this would just be medical and pharmacy. Okay. >> And when you talked about the marketing with even members of the family that are not necessarily on the plan. >> Yes, ma'am. So, if you're taking care of a grandson and you're they can talk to a doctor over Zoom and get whatever prescriptions they may need. >> So, they are uploaded into our system. When you sit down with us, we're going to ask you for your dependence. We're already probably going to get a lot of that from Melissa. She would send us obviously your census, but you'd be surprised, right? Um I I've just inherited two
054uh nieces that are living with me now, a grandchild, whatever the case may be. So, not only are we going to have you go through those dependents that we have loaded, we're going to add anybody, anybody that lives in your home to include a parent that's with you because of medical reasons. They then have full access when they call attenive 24/7 to that telemed as well as the mental health. Anybody over 18 has to create their own login uh for HIPPA purposes, but anybody under 18 uh the parents would be able to make that phone call with them. Highly utilized. I It's probably one of the proudest things that I've done. We integrated uh Attentive into Greenville two months before they went live. So we started it, I'm sorry, June. They went live September 1st.
055My rationale was let's get people used to using it before it starts hitting our claims, right? Um number two, let's get them to stop using the TRS and get them to start shifting over. When we come into our info sessions, the first thing we do is ask everybody to hold up their cell phones. We have them put the phone number in right then and there. Free tele medicine is what we put as the header because it never fails when you need it, you can't find the phone number. So we go ahead and eliminate that immediately. The month of June we had 30% utilization from attended between mental health and tele medicine. That's unheard of. The standard for a year for a company on tele medicine is 10%. For an EAP it's three. So we're averaging
056right now over 30 with all of our clients. We have 44% with Belleview. So it's something is yet again we consistently remind people hey don't forget that you have it. Don't forget that you have it. So people are really starting to use tele medicine. The statistics right now are 72% of any reason you're sitting in front of a doctor, you could have done it over tele medicine. >> Well, I appreciate the proactive approach that you seem to have and giving our employees in our district the opportunity to customize this. I mean, thank you. >> I would love to get my fingerprint in a gift card. I mean, it just sounds like you care and if you care, you're you're making them care about their health and then it's just a little trick, >> right? It's
057very important. I think um coming from a parent with two diabetic children, a husband that has epilepsy. Everybody everybody up here my story who fell out of a tree, but I won't even bore you with that. Both my parents have Alzheimer's. Um this is so real to me. I usually tear up, but I won't today. That I want to make sure every bus driver, every maintenance worker, and every cafeteria staff has access to healthcare. This isn't just for administrators or or teachers, right? And so, if I can do that, then I've done my job. >> Thank you. >> Good. >> Have a wonderful evening. Thank you so much for the opportunity. >> One last little tidbit that is kind of just a little uh fun leave behind. um on a tenative. They uh are so
058committed to school districts and education that um should you all choose to move forward, they would at the end of the year they would give your foundation $33,000 and that would come in a check and that would be any parting gift. >> Thank you, Miss Robinson. Thank you. >> If you all don't have any questions, we could move to the next item. Miss President, the next one is to discuss the 2024 bond project update. Uh I know that we do have just one action item tonight that is connected to our uh stadium as far as approving a construction proposal request. So I'd like to call to the podium David and Chris. >> Yes, ma'am. that will be uh giving us an update of where we are to include the transportation and the demolition of that.
059>> Good evening, madame board president, board of trustees, Dr. Dino, I'm David with here to present on the change proposal request number one, change order number one for GMP package two uh for the new memorial or new Alice Memorial Stadium. Um this is pertaining to the existing transportation building. Uh with the relocation of the transportation department, um that building we have looked at we provided direction to provide a cost to demolish and to add some additional parking. So that area right there shown in red and in purple was not part of the original uh stadium scope of work. And so we provided CPR1 to Weaver and Jacobs to formally um include that as a change order to the uh scope of work. As you can see here, this would be the new site plan. Um
060we would connect or add additional parking approximately 175 slots. Um so that would complete the landscaping and fencing for the entire site. So we'll have the secured site uh for the entire stadium. And then that area shown in purple, that is the uh entry for the uh for the visitor side, which is being relocated originally from the east side to the southwest corner there, uh providing more of a more uh uh entry away from the street. Um and so it allow for stacking and you know, ticketing and so forth um there without, you know, having any major issues with traffic on that on that major road. So with this being said, the overall cost summary, the approved contract amount currently is the 34,970 thou,612. This change order would be an ad um to the contract
061amount of 1,868789. We have been negotiating this cost with Weaver Jacobs for the last couple weeks. Um, we are anticipating still some additional savings that we're working on. As of earlier today, we received some additional information. We can possibly deduct it another 100,000. So, we're trying to get the best value for Alice ISD. Um, so we're working on that. And so, the new contract amount would not exceed the um 36 million 84241. Also included in your packet was a draft of the uh change order one. It is the uh AIA document G71. You all have that? Did you see that? So on there is the official change order document. This is just a draft um that we drafted indicating the uh the change in the contract amount. You can see the original contract sum listed
062there, the 34 million, and then net change by previous authorized change orders, which is zero, does not none have been um approved thus far. And then uh contract sum prior to this change order, which is the same amount since there hasn't been any previous changes and the new contract sum would be increased by the 1.8 million. Uh which we're still negotiating that cost. So we'll have a file a number before we issue this document for signature. Um, so this would be an approval in the amount to not exceed the 1.8 million. Um, on here we do have an indication of an increase in time of 66 days to the contract amount and further discussion with Weaver and Jacobs. The 66 days is not directly correlated to this additional scope of work. Um, so they believe
063that the scope of work can be done within the timeline of all the other site work. So, we're recommending not including the 66 days. So, that'll be eliminated from the change order, the final document. However, the 66 days, there is a correlation possibly to the block arriving on site, which we're tracking. We have been notified by the manufacturer that there could be possible uh delay. And so, we've been tracking that uh information, and it's we're getting updates weekly. And so we don't know the full extent uh actual delivery date uh at this time but as we receive additional information we'll come to the board to present but currently we're not extending any contract time to the original contract. >> And just for the record as far as interest that we have accumulated with the bonds
064it's 1.7 million. We shared that on on Monday, but just for everyone uh that's listening, the cost to demolish can't or the change order right now is saying not to exceed 1.8, but we are still trying to lower that. >> Correct. >> And uh working with both parties to make sure that that happens, but the interest is at 1.7 right now. >> I do want to add we still have a contingency allowance within the uh contract of the the project. So, we do not want to utilize any of that towards this. This would be an actual change order to the contract. Um, since, you know, there's still quite a bit of of construction to go, we want to maintain as much of the contingency as we can till the very end, hopefully bring in some
065money back to the district. So then tonight the recommendation is just to approve the construction proposal request uh related to the stadium project to include the not to exceed the 1 uh 1,87 >> 789. >> Do you all have any questions? >> What was that? You said there was the block. What was exactly was such? >> So during the selection process of the block, we we went through three different manufacturers to try to get the the color based on the renderings that we were trying the design intent of the project. Um, and so based on available colors for these manufacturers, get multiple samples, uh, review. I don't know if you've seen the little mock walls that they built out there by the job. >> Literally talking about blocks for >> um, and so now that
066we have, uh, an approved color, um, multiple colors actually, um, we got information back from the, uh, block manufacturer of possible delay of delivery, right? So that's what we're tracking. Uh at one point it was February, now we're into January. So we're hoping tomorrow they come out with a new the manufacturer comes out with a new production schedule and so we're hoping to get some good news tomorrow as far as you know getting pushed up in the line. So we'll continue to track that and once we have a more definitive um time then we'll be back. >> But that won't bottleneck the construction phase. Are you continue? So we're so knowing that in advance instead of just having essentially those slabs or those foundations that have been poured for a month, month and a half,
067instead of just having those sit there, if you drive by, you'll actually see all the plumbing being fabricated and build all the risers. >> Typically that happens as the masonry goes up, as the block goes up. So instead of just sitting there and and killing time, we're being proactive and trying to actually do things that we can do. So that way there's a limitation on any delay whatsoever. So thinking outside the box on that, not the normal sequence of construction, but don't let it sit there. Let's let's get something done. So that's the mentality that we have right now as we wait essentially. Okay. based on the OAC meeting we had earlier today which we meet bi-weekly um you know you can see you know they are trying to beat the the schedule with with
068tasks as they can the sequences and so forth so based on the amount of work that that has been done thus far you know we can maintain that um you know >> and you had people come from Houston as well >> we had people we had the director of our construction department come down and do an a site observation yesterday and he was pretty impressed with the amount work that had been completed based on the schedule we currently have um the manpower and um the knowledge Neto had you know you know overall knowledge of the project and the subcontractors and so forth. So u that was great news that we got u from him as an outsider that hadn't really been too involved in the project to come in and see that firsthand. So we're
069planning to have him come once a month uh to continue to do that. Jerry and I will be alternating trips weekly just to be out here. Uh we did suggest um you know they do have their daily log as far as manpower sharing that just so we can track the amount of you know people out on site uh workers daily um just so we can keep track of that. So, we'll continue to to work with Weaver and Jacobs to be sure that, you know, we have the the manpower available um out there to keep progressing >> and they will be there tomorrow at 4:00 to continue to to work hard and I know that they're going to been out there making sure that everything gets done. The last uh concrete foundation will be poured the
070Wednesday before Thanksgiving at 8 a.m. So they're they're they're working trying to get everything done as much as possible. >> So So when can we do a a site visit? Sorry. >> Um as long as we have the the PPE available. Um yes, that can be arranged. Um I don't know if that >> we were thinking of a topping out ceremony where we would have the board some community member students go in and sign the final >> beam before I finish that off. But I mean if you all want to schedule something we can definitely uh do that. I mean, aside with any one of y'all, that way we can understand and know what what's up ahead, whatever. Uh, I want to get a visual. I would say I've been I know I've been at
071y'all. Is it going to be done in May? May May every meeting and I I just want to make sure that if it's if it's hey if it's later on you need to let us know. >> Uh I'm not trying to Well, yes I am. I'm trying to rush you all but in a safe way because it's for our kids. Uh graduations coming up and I don't want to have in Kingsville again. Uh but is it possible? And and and that's that's my my deal. Uh it was hard for us to me for me it was hard for me to go to San Diego for home games and seeing as you know it's not the same and people already seeing the product and they want to they want to start as soon as they can
072but here we go again in a safe way. Make sure the building's correct and I'm sure we have the right crew there. Uh now hopefully it'll be in May. Uh I think you are here at the meeting. Plus if it isn't made good. Uh but we just needed uh to be nice and it looks like it's going to be beautiful and that's what I want. >> Please give a private tour. >> Get it over with. >> I have no doubt it'll be beautiful, but we definitely want it. and we know some things are out of your hands, especially, you know, the material not arriving when it should. So, we do understand. >> Yeah. >> Um, I do have a few questions because I wasn't here when the original contracts were made. So, I just want
073to get a clear understanding. So, originally this parking lot wasn't in the original contract because we were thinking that we were going to continue to leave the bus barn there. Is that what I'm understanding? Okay. We didn't have another site. >> It was going to cost an enormous amount to just uplift it to another facility like 10 million. And I think >> this is a hard >> Jennifer almost passed out on that one. >> Yes, >> I think everybody >> I know I Yes, I think um and and the new area that we have. So now that we have that, we can create this and even though Well, it's 1.8 right now, but we're trying to lower it. Correct. >> Correct. We're working to do everything we can to save additional monies. And yes, it
074was always shown as future parking lot whenever that would be. Luckily, we're in a position, >> right? >> Um that future will be with the actual stadium. >> Awesome. And then the the money that well, whatever it may be, we know it's not going to exceed 1.8, but we've already made 1.7 with the money that we have that's being invested. Okay. I just wanted to make sure. And I know that I met we met with the team earlier today and they had said they already could bring it down 100 G's and that Jerry was working at bringing in another 100 G. So >> just saying, you know, >> he's going to pick up a shovel and a hammer. >> Whatever it takes. >> A couple of comments. I really like the idea of bringing in
075the visitors inside the parking lot area and keep them away from the street. >> Thought it was important especially when you start the line start stacking. You're off the street. >> You're off the street. >> Did you mention how you were going to change the entrance too? >> Yes. As far as the location, but yes, the entry and we can show an updated rendering of of what that would look like. It was remember going to be on Stadium Drive, but now it's on Sage Drive >> on Sage Drive. >> On that side where the visitors are going to come in, that grand entrance will be there. >> Okay. >> And then um there's a potential for $33,000 from another vendor. What will be your potential contribution? >> She was awfully generous. Hopefully y'all weren't going
076to answer that. >> Don't turn red. Don't turn red. >> We've always been there to support that. >> I'm glad you asked because I was going to ask >> the authority to everybody's in a giving mood to >> Thanksgiving holiday. >> Well, it see it seems real good. I I passed by there just earlier and cha everybody's working. >> I'm impressed with your >> well they're and they're working late. They're working. >> They're working late. I passed by there one day and they were like, man. >> And that was one of the comments that the uh our construction director from our Houston office mentioned about the erector being out of Houston. Correct. And is one of the best erectors that he's ever worked with. So that was positive information. >> Only the best for Alice,
077Steve. >> There you go. Well, I mean, when when the general public says, "Man, those guys were out there late." It's like, "Wow." Yeah. They know. I mean, they notice, >> right? >> So, that's good. >> They're out there early, too. >> Yeah. >> Great. Good job. >> Thank you. >> Those are the only two. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> On to item number six of the agenda. The action item 6A, discuss and consider approval of prescription proposal request CPR number one related to the stadium project. And then just for the record that we are approving the $1,868,789 for the transportation complaint, not adding days of >> Thank you, Dr. Bino. At this time, do we have a motion? >> So move. We have a motion by Mr. Is there a second? >> I'll
078second. >> Second by Mr. Reeds. Is there any discussion at this time? No. >> Mr. uh Ben >> I. >> Mrs. Ghetto. >> I Mr. Reeds. >> Hi. >> Mr. Ron. >> I. >> Myself. I motion passes. Thank you. >> And on to item number seven to to adjourn. Before we adjourn, I just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving to all of the employees of our district, to the principles, Dr. Finino, staff, everyone. We're very thankful for all the work you've done on behalf of the district. So, we hope you have a relaxing and joyful Thanksgiving break. Happy Thanksgiving. And to everyone of my fellow board members, it's been a privilege. Very thankful to serve along you. Happy Thanksgiving. The time is now 6:09 and is charge. >> Yeah. Let them know that it's
079It's