NORWALK, Conn. — A new agreement with the Norwalk Federation of Teachers will save Norwalk Public Schools about $4 million in the coming school year.
NPS had hoped to reduce health insurance costs before Tuesday’s budget reconciliation by pursuing a clause in NFT’s recently negotiated contract to attempt moving to a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). It was understood that all eight school unions would have to agree to the high-deductible plan, but the other seven unions balked.
Now school administrators are going ahead with the HDHP for just the teachers.
“Through extensive negotiations, we were able to reach an agreement with the Norwalk Federation of Teachers. This contract addresses the specific needs of their membership and demonstrates our commitment to collaboration with our unions,” Norwalk Superintendent of Schools Alexandra Estrella said Thursday in a statement. “I deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of our educators, who tirelessly strive to keep our students engaged and successful in their academic careers.”
Renewed negotiations came at NFT’s request, a news release said.
On June 7, NPS Chief Financial Officer Lunda Asmani explained that the State had told the district that all unions had to go to the HDHP plan, it couldn’t be “piecemeal,” it had to be “all or nothing.”
Estrella said NPS wanted to give it a second shot and see if the State would reconsider.
The State had been asked to put a definitive answer in writing and NPS expected to have that in time for a meeting Thursday with NFT, Asmani said.
The new agreement takes effect Sept. 1, the news release said. NFT members will get their health insurance benefits through a Cigna HDHP. Other union members will remain on Connecticut Partnership 2.0.
“The Norwalk Federation of Teachers is pleased to conclude these many months of negotiations with an agreement which will save over $4 million for our school district. We are grateful to the members for their patience and support of the negotiations team during this process,” said Mary Yordon, President of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers, in a statement.
“I’m happy that the Norwalk Board of Education could reach a successful agreement with the Norwalk Federation of Teachers. Through open dialogue with NFT President Mary Yordon and her team, as well as the collaborative efforts of Superintendent Dr. Estrella and her negotiating team, we have been able to find a compromise that satisfies the needs of the NFT and best serves our scholars,” BoE Chairwoman Diana Carpio said in a statement.
On June 7, Asmani said NFT had criticized the district for not providing a financial incentive to the other unions to switch to a HDHP. “We basically just said, ‘here are the two plans. Here’s the cost.’”
NFT had suggested NPS offer to pay half or 60% of the Health Savings Account (HSA), according to Asmani. Instead, the district offered the unions a 75% contribution.
Union leaders went to their membership with the offer and six of the eight voted not to move.
In late March, Yordon said the district would have saved $7 million if all the unions moved to a high-deductible health plan.
In a letter to members, Yordon said, “Last year, many expressed that their entire raise was absorbed by the increase in cost of insurance. The NFT bargained over the summer to move to a plan that will save the district $7 million dollars, roughly. A significant reduction in cost seemed to balance out the nuisance and disruption of changing plans, as long as we continued to receive quality care. We did not want to change insurance but it was important to reduce costs as we headed into the difficult budget year.”
The teachers contract is for 2023-2026, Morgan said. “The savings are in lower premiums that the BOE will be paying on behalf of the teachers due to this vote by NFT and its members to move to a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).”
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