Holton school board approves group insurance rates

On a 6-1 vote, with board member Judy May voting in opposition, the Holton school board approved new health care insurance group rates from Blue Cross/Blue Shield for classified staff. Rates were increased 12.75 percent this year for the group plan (an average of $67 per month increase) that spans from October through September. 

The deductible for the group rates is $6,350, it was announced. Only 12 out of the estimated 120 classified staff (non teacher staff) are enrolled in the health care plan, it was noted. The new monthly rates will be as follows - single plan $630.86 per month, employee/child plan $1,276.77 per month, employee/spouse $1,354.62 per month and family $2,000.52 per month.

The district contributes $450 monthly toward all 10-month classified employees’ premiums, $490 monthly toward 10-month secretaries’ single and employee/spouse premiums, $675 monthly toward 10-month secretaries’ employee/child and employee/family premiums, $540 monthly toward 12-month classified employees’ single and employee/spouse premiums and $760 monthly toward 12-month classified employees’ employee/child and employee/family premiums, it was reported.

Board members said the issue of high health care premiums for this group plan clearly needed to be addressed and studied now so that better options could be offered next year.

The board also discussed what to do when a newly hired certified staff person accepts a position with the district, signs a statement of understanding, receives official board hiring approval but then later withdraws and leaves to work elsewhere before the start of the school year.

Board members asked that the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) be consulted to determine if the district has any recourse to impose penalties, for example. Board members said they would like to add this topic to the list of negotiated items with teachers for next year.

Note: This article is updated from an article that appears in the Aug. 13, 2025 edition of The Recorder. For more on this and other stories, please log into your holtonrecorder.net account and select that edition under “E-Editions.”