Ten Kent County school boards and union agree to a single labor contract with health care concession

By Sharon Hanks

Public schools across Michigan have been struggling for years with cutbacks in state funding and dropping enrollment, while costs for employee health care continued to soar.

Now 10 Kent County school boards have agreed to a solution -- at least for one year -- that cuts through the contentious issue, confirmed Ron Koehler, assistant superintendent of the Kent Intermediate School District.

The school boards adopted a labor template that requires each bargaining employee in their district to pay $65 per month toward the cost of their health care insurance for the 2010-2011 school year, Koehler says. In addition, they agreed to an increase in co-pays for doctor visits and a freeze on base salaries. The agreement will save the districts millions of dollars, dozens of jobs and long hours at the bargaining table.

The unusual agreement was proposed following negotiations by the Kent County Education Association and the Kent Intermediate Superintendents Association. During the past several years, many non-union support staff and administrators in these districts have been paying a portion of their health care insurance.

"We're just pleased that the Kent County Education Association recognized the severity of the financial situation our districts were facing and joined in on an effort to put kids first," says Koehler. "It sends a message to Lansing that we can work together and put our house in order. . . . it was the right thing to do and we're going to do it."

The districts include Godfrey Lee, Rockford, Lowell, Kenowa Hills, Kent ISD, Byron Center, Comstock Park, Northview, Godwin Heights and Grandville. In the past, teachers in the Grand Rapids Public Schools district were the only ones in the county that paid a portion of their health insurance premiums.

Source: Ron Koehler, assistant superintendent at Kent Intermediate School District.

Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.