Letter: He shares what he knows about Prescott school employees

Talk about it

TO THE EDITOR: Did you know in the Prescott School District:

—Administrators in the district average $90,000 yearly in salary alone.

—Administrators in the district average $20,000-30,000 per year in fringe benefits (This includes 100 percent for a family health insurance plan; 100 percent of their pension, which is 11.6 percent of their salary. They receive a dental plan.)

—Administrators receive the Health Savings Account in the amount of $3,500 as well as above stated benefits.

—In 2011-12, teachers will not receive a raise; they will pay 12 ½ percent of a health plan and 1/2 of their pension.

However, in the settlement for 2011-12, teachers received an additional program called a “Health Savings Account” that the district puts $3,500 per year into an account for every employee—which is tax-free money. With this additional $3,500 per employee, teachers are not coming up significantly short. Example, a teacher making $50,000 a year pays only 5.8 percent towards their pension and 12 ½ percent of a $14,000 health insurance plan, making their out of pocket cost $3,700 per year; when you subtract the amount going into their HSA ($3,500), it makes their out-of-pocket cost $200 per year or about $17-18 a month.

—All employees including retirees to the age of 65, receive a Health Savings Account to which the district contributes $3,500. Retirees to the age of 65 also are covered under district health insurance with district contribution of 87 ½ percent towards the premium.

—All teachers (who teach in the district 15 years and reach the age of 57) who retire, qualify for the health insurance to which the district contributes up to 87 ½ percent of the premium.

Tags: opinion, letters, prescott, clifton