Logan expected to join McLean Regional Education

[May 13, 2013]  The Logan County Board's Insurance and Legislative Committee met last week on Wednesday night. The primary topic of discussion was the upcoming changes being made to the state's educational regions and what will happen to Region 38, including Logan County.

Regional Office of Education 38 to change

Regional Superintendent of Schools Jean Anderson was present at the committee meeting to provide possible resolutions related to the changes being made to the region.

Anderson began with some background into the issue at hand. As of June 26, 2012, Public Act 97-0703 went into effect. This act requires a reduction in the number of regions in the state by June 30 this year. Nine regions will be consolidated into others, dropping the number from 44 to 35 regions.

"Consolidation will be effective in July of 2015," said Anderson.

One of the criteria used in the consolidation process is a change in the minimum population for a region, from 43,000 to 61,000. Region 38, which contains Logan, Mason and Menard counties, is just shy of the new minimum.

Anderson said that Menard County will join Region 51, which is Sangamon County; and Mason County will join Region 53, which is Tazewell County. Woodford County will also join Region 53.

The first resolution Anderson asked the committee to vote on was a resolution for Logan County to join Region 17. This region contains McLean, DeWitt and Livingston counties. The resolution "incorporates the legislation in the language, per Section 34-A of the School Code," according to a document provided by Anderson.

The second resolution was an "Intergovernmental Agreement (IgA) to Fund the Education Service Region." The current IgA has been in effect since 1995, and Anderson said it has worked out well for the other three counties since then.

The resolution would require that Logan County would aid in funding the IgA. The payments made by the individual counties would be representative of their populations. However, this percentage would not change after it is set. McLean County is willing to pay "the lion's share," which would be 67 percent. Logan County would pay 12 percent, which would actually be a little less than the county is paying now for Region 38.

"We should have a savings of about five or six thousand dollars," said Chuck Ruben.

"They (McLean) seem to be extremely happy to do that. They make no bones about it that they will pay the largest amount," said Anderson.

The IgA would include a Joint Education Committee, which would meet once a year. The committee would consist of one member from each county, with McLean providing two members in order to make an odd number on the committee.

Jan Schumacher, chairman of the county board committee, asked if these resolutions should be vetted through the state's attorney. Anderson, with help from Ruben, said that the McLean County state's attorney's office has already seen the documentation, and everything looks good from a legal perspective.

The resolutions were both approved by the committee and are expected to be voted on by the full board this month.

Anderson said she would like to see a unanimous vote from the board, as it would send a positive message of support to McLean County. Anderson also said she has spoken about this several times with Robert Farmer, county board chairman, and he agrees on the matter.

Results of changing insurance carriers

Pam Meagher told the committee of some happenings since the change to Blue Cross health insurance. Meagher said the rates have changed for the county.

The change comes from some employees and dependents dropping their plans. Meagher said the county will be paying only $15,000 more than last year, rather than the $30,000 that was expected.

According to Meagher's report, the downside is that employees who have chosen to pay for a family plan, which is already the more expensive option, will lose more from their paychecks to help cover the premium.

The motion that passed as part of the insurance change also read that the county will pay a set figure of $475 to help pay for individual coverage. That number cannot be changed.

Ruben said that even if they could change the figure, it would not be fair to offer extra coverage for dependents to some employees and not all of them.

The committee members agreed that while it is unfortunate that some employees will have to pay extra for dependent coverage, to offer extra for those dependents would cause more problems than it would solve.

Meagher said she will be in contact with those employees to inform them of the increase and what their options would be to remedy the situation.

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Committee members present were Jan Schumacher, Chuck Ruben, Andy Anderson, Bill Martin, Kevin Bateman and David Hepler. Insurance administrator Pam Meagher, Nancy Schaub of R.W. Garrett Agency and Regional Superintendent of Schools Jean Anderson were also present.

[By DEREK HURLEY]