##VIDEO ID:mwYwb-qv0wI## e e e e good afternoon afterno everyone happy New Year and welcome to the Martin County School Board Workshop I would like to call this meeting to order can we please rise and say the Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all Miss Falls will you take the role please Dr morgi here this Roberts yes Mrs Russell here Mrs pitet here uh this time we will have public comment is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak seeing none we will move on to District presentations and updates um employee benefits insurance update for 2025 26 Insurance renewal Mr Don Calderon thank you test there we go okay good afternoon Madam chair members of the board superintendent main I am Don Calderone director of risk management and poliy benefits with the mark County School District and alongside me is Dustin Keane our Senior Benefits consultant with the Garen group um so our first presentation today is the employee benefit package for the 2526 plan year um we are at that time of year where we start receiving our first offers of renewals and um we're going to go over those renewals um a timeline of expectations and then we ALS also prepared some additional information uh for our medical insurance renewal so just taking a look at the screen here you can see that we have quite a bit of um lines of coverage up for Renewal obviously medical insurance is is always um at the Forefront um and we also have dental insurance life insurance disability the employee assistance program and our partnership with wex for flexible spending account and corer administration so what we're going to do first before we get into the renewals is um go over um some information that I think is very um important to understand in terms of our medical insurance renewal so prior to the winter break um our department along with the Garen group met with uh our team uh that serves our account at Florida blue and we had a very comprehensive uh stewardship report that went over um the claims for the 23 24 plan year which ended on June 30th 2024 and I wanted to kind of take that this time for this opportunity to give you some highlights and some U information that is is very important to understand so you could understand um the overview of where we are as a district for our medical insurance and how that will uh impact our first offer of renewal so um having said that I'm going to hand it off to Dustin Keane and he's going to go over some of the claims information all right good afternoon uh this first slide really is to give you a understanding of your Wellness screenings amongst your membership so high level your Wellness uh screening utilization is higher than Florida blu's book of business pretty much as a whole across all metrics um in addition to that three of the five are actually increasing the amount of employees getting those screenings versus the prior plan year um so that's just a testament of your your team your your staff is marketing the wellness program everything um that is very very good utilization that we like to see um from a high level in claims um and to take a step back this is last plan year so July 1 2023 through through June 30th 2024 versus the prior plan year so two full plan years um last year your plan spend was up 19% or roughly $3 million um if you look in that exhibit 1.11 most of that increase of the 3 million about 2.4 million um are due to your high cost claimants high cost claimants defined as members incurring claims over $75,000 in the plan year um number of high cost claimants increased by 24% roughly 61% of those members are expected to continue this current plan year um and interestingly if you remove those high cost claims PS from the claims your overall trend with all your membership is only about a 4.6% in which is really really good average increase um across the United States is right around 10 to 12% so looking at the place of service where those claims are being incurred um the inpatient setting those claims are up about 64% outpatient claims are up about 29% um however the emergency room in Urgent Care we're seeing good Trends actually decreasing um which kind of backs into that narrative that overall your utilization um good it's just those high cost conditions which are treated in the inati outpatient for um in cancer are up Pharmacy increased 1% in terms of the number of pharmaceuticals dispensed however claims are up about 11% and that's due to higher cost medications coming on to the market treat higher cost virtual visits uh this is also a great Trend um we see increased Trend here as a a positive thing um the tele medicine or t do is up 18% tele medicine is up 11% um reason this is good is because it's avoiding the higher cost settings in the Urgent Care and the ER so uh good Trends here from a top five diagnosis uh category by PL spend neoplasms are number one those are your Cancers and that has historically always been your number one um number two factors influencing Health those are things such as Wellness exams they actually lump in maternity care um there as well number three muscoskeletal think of osteoarthritis back disorders neck disorders uh circulatory anything to do with the circulate system uh heart and then digestive think of prones anything to do the digestive Etc this slide really is meant to you know bring you up to current date which are claims through November we should have December claims here in a couple of days Target loss ratio is 75% um just to clarify what that loss ratio means claims divided by premium in other words for every dollar you give the carrier in premium 75 cents that that goes to claims which leaves 25% for the cost to administer the plan and pooling um and stop loss that they build into the plan as well so 75% would get you to a roughly we call it a no increase last plan year you're at about 104% this current plan year um or the current rolling 12 months you're at 103% so in other words every dollar you give for to Blue they pay out a do and3 cents from uh enrollment to claims ratio um 70% enrollment in the HMO which accounts for 76% of your claims High deductible is 22% making up 10% and the PO is 8% of your enrollment up 14% so these two pie charts are meant to show you the enrollment migration pre-open enrollment and postop enrollment as you remember you did a lot of um incentivization for employees to roll into that high deductible Health Plan where your claims are the lowest um through funding the HSA making plan Etc um so you'll see on the right hand side the biggest difference here you'll see in the high deductible pie chart that has increased about 5% which is a massive jump in enrollment which is great that has saved um claims experience as again we lower claims experience so with all that being said uh backing into where we at with our initial renewals are not to exceeds um Don mentioned all the lines up for Renewal um so what we have here is just all of those lines uh we have paid so if it's District or employee retiree paid and the increase and then the loss ratio so Dental which is partially District paid um the not to exceed is at a 5% which is a great starting point um it has a one- year rate guarantee with an 84% loss ratio so good starting point for us to negotiate uh life insurance there's kind of three parts to to your life insurance you have the district paid part for your employees you have the employee paid part that they can purchase and then you have retire rep paid for the basic and sub so for the district portion uh the basic life is not increasing no increase to the district paid life for the employees life insurance those rates are also not increasing um the dependent life so child and spouse coverage is going up 185% and if you look over to the right that's due to the dependent supplemental loss ratio of 723 that plan is running High um and then lastly your retiree basic life uh 300% increase and the supplemental life for retirees 400% inre increase and that's due to loss ratio of 600 uh% for the um uh plans um so in when you're giving us the 300400 and 19 185 can you tell us how many people that's involving because those numbers get inflated if it's a low number of people yes uh while I go through we so are you looking for the retiree uh the three that are increasing the retiree basic retiree supplement and the dependent supplement so if you know what the the enrollment is the enrollment is on those and at the same time if you're looking for stuff to look up as you're giving us a rolling 12 loss ratio of 103 and a current loss ratio of 99 do you have that broken down by HMO Po and high deductible we do we have it as one of the append okay thank you so for the um life insurance do not have the number of uh employees enrolled we just have the volume number which is how your rates are calculated volume is the amount of death benefit um but we could take that as a takeaway and get back to robber and then to answer your question on the claims experience for medical break that into buckets so we don't have the rolling 12 Broken Out by plan but we do have the plan year loss ratio for each plan if that help so for the HMO loss ratio is 102% for the plan year to date High deductible Health Plan the loss ratio is 54% and the PO is at a60 uh for the long-term and short-term disability this is employee only paid um this premium is at a 19% not to exceed increase which equates to about A2 to three doll per month increase for your employees depending on the tier of coverage they're enrolled into this is mostly being uh driven by the long-term disability loss ratio of 160% uh short-term disability loss ratio is out of 88% um a decent loss ratio for short term helping um actually drive down that 19% a bit for the EAP now this is just District paid 41% increase which equates to about $119,000 a year um this is mostly due to your claims are 16% higher than expected um and about 12% higher than siga or ever North's book of business this is a trend that we're seeing AC across the board kind of two factors being EAP is just increasing over year after year since covid and second we're seeing provider reimbursement rates go up that are actually given back to those psychologists um ET Cobra is District paid that's a no increase FSA District paid uh 16% which equates to about $745 a year which is relatively minimal and then the one that at the Forefront uh as every year is up for renewals your medical insurance which is at a 32% amount to exceed uh backing into that 103% loss ratio so kind of two things here we did an independent projection uh based on your claims experience and our formula calls for about a 20% increase um we're using medical trend of 5% they're using medical trend of 10 to 12% the big uh differentiator the second part is uh we did ask for single digit increase um they could not get there so they are coming out the gate based upon where their formula calling for which and they'll suggest plan changes to drive that down correct correct and further negotiations right okay thank you so with that being said said um looking for direction from the board on um whether or not to RFP um and if so what lines to RFP um recommendation would be to bid the medical But ultimately that's up to you we do feel comfortable with the other lines of insurances on a starting point um but if the district were to bid we do have a timeline with uh no R fee which is this slide and I'll go to the one with RFP which just high level the important dates here are we would issue an RFP this week we have it ready to go um the responses are would be due back February 12th we would then present the initial results March 3rd to the insurance committee March 4th to the workshop um and then we would then select finalist to negotiate get best and final offers to present at the March 24th Insurance committee meeting and the March 25th uh uh board meeting for final decision and the way we kind of um set this up is with the two processes of an initial short list and negotiate is we find that that gets the district the best competitive results competitive data can be shared at that best and final offer stage negotiate them down as low as possible with that um March 25th meeting that would bring us to open and bentech programming which takes about four weeks at the minimum to back into open enrollment starting April 23rd through May 2nd uh which backs into your multicheck deadlines and eventually effective I'm just asking for input I'll go last you want to start um so correct we're hoping to get that tomorrow yeah we had 124% loss ratio last December so hopeful that would be less than that correct e the way this is set up is they would only have January um data um because we'd have to have best and final offers due and then um now they do look at a rolling 12 so they will have full 12 months accomodate for that seasonal trend good it does ring a bell right so Mrs Roberts we we we we have to back everything out from when the multi checks are dispersed because that's in both C so we use that um date and we back everything out as far as we can go out um we do have an active open enrollment date of April 23rd through May 2nd because we have to get that data out of bentech into um payrolls hands so they can start using that data to um ver the multi checks so um I we we definitely have the ability to be flexible But ultimately it does take approximately four weeks for bentech to be programmed for all of the market material to be um created and sent out and we want to allow some time to educate our employees um so we did meet prior to the winter break with um Mr Carver our director of purchasing and Mr Morrison our of Finance um because at that time prior to winter break we had not received a not to exceed from Florida blue and um since we got it just last Friday we wanted to be prepared and um they have both uh graciously accepted the gar group's offer to handle the RFP on behalf of the district um so worked with staff and with our consultant I I guess that's my answer my my explanation that I just gave you is that we have built this timeline with as far out as we can go doesn't help there would be other um departments that would need to be part of that conversation and see if they flexible with the data that they Reed from bentech in order to process I agree with you I know so I take it you're okay with going to an RFP well I'm just saying that I don't think we can if this is the and correct the best and final would include and the previous February 20 anybody he get scary I'm out of time but but I if I'm hearing you correctly doctor well there someone new here and someone new to joining this wonderful Health Plan just seems like the costs are just way too high I don't see how families can afford this honestly and especially after this rate hike so my thought would be to do an RFP as soon as possible because if we don't then it's going to be a 32% hike or 20% hike or whatever it is that is going to break some people's backs so I would be inclined to do that ASAP and I would also be inclined to do an RF to get creative and maybe do an RFP with some local businesses to see how we can offset some of these costs possibly with some local businesses that might be able to help us with scripts and MRIs and things like that they might be able to do it in another way uh outside of just everything going through this health insurance because I mean it there's just a lot of cost that we're running up and if we can't find a way to offset that and I don't think offsetting it is always just taking less coverage and higher deductibles and getting worse care I think we should explore all options possibly there's a local vendor that might be able to help us do less doctor visits um so that we can lower the cost that way but I would be in favor of an RFP uh immediately uh going to the marketpl thanks I'm also in favor of going to as am I so pull the trigger so when you do that can you try to readjust your calendar um Talk internally I mean so as you issue your RFP if you can write it in such a way where you're giving yourself some flexibility on the other end for your your best and final comeback look so that they could get more data I mean I really think and I think you got it right on is the problem is if we don't do an RFP we know what we're looking at we know 32 we know 20 we know that plan changes is going to still give us in the double digits and the only way you're going to be able to see something different is by pushing out for an RFP but I think that the way to really sweeten the RFP is by giving them giving the respondent additional time and additional data in order to do that so whatever that looks like um I know the board can be flexible as far as meetings in order to accommodate that but I mean I think um Dustin you know when the numbers when the claims numbers drop so you know when January is going to drop you would know pretty much when February and when March are going to drop and see if at least February and hopefully both February and March can be worked in so that instead of just getting your ability to look at January to come up with your final number if you gave them February and March to come up with the final number you're giving them two more um pieces that I think and regardless of where those two pieces land it it's not a surmising of what the Gap is I mean I think in worst case whatever that Gap is from last year to this year you know your November step up your December Step Up Etc so that's the worst case but I mean but that's spec that's complete speculation but you don't have to have that step up piece if you have the actual number correct yes um you are correct every real data that you get in terms of claims experience they will replace with the unknown medical Trend that they kind of assume correct but to be uh transparent that could also bite you the rear end as well if your claims for February come in extremely high so it could play both ways um but uh I understand your point and our team will work with uh your staff to come up with a timeline to to try to work into that um just kind of working the numbers out in my head we would need to have the best and final offers due the end of March for a board Workshop early early April um which would then put open enrollment four weeks out from that beginning of May to start so we'll have to plan to see if that's uh right and you could always schedule the workshop so let's say you're talking about a workshop um you could also do the workshop and and then immediately after the workshop do the um meeting so that whatever direction we give you at the workshop if you know where we're going with that you can have those two things almost which I think we did at one point Didn't we do that once so so then two years ago a couple years ago so you could stack them on top of each other and actually um get yourself so that there was some movement and and you all were prepared for that and responded beautifully for that so that we could get from point point A to point B and kind of know knowing where we were going um and that really helped so it wasn't a let's finish the workshop now let's get our ducks in a row now let's advertise for a meeting now let's you know it wasn't that another two week push or one week push I mean we were able to get that yeah unfortunately we've been through this so experience but um so I understand the direction from the board um to allow the Garen group to handle RFP which is ready to go they can pull the trigger on it be issued tomorrow follow up with our staff tomorrow to talk take a look at what we can do to extend superintendent Maine we do have a workshop on April 1 so staff could prepare uh with you all that if we wanted to do the April 1 Workshop followed by a meeting at that time and then I will work with staff um getting some green lights that we will we will make the timeline work to be able to get this accomplished so that you have the additional data and I know that you guys are working with um showing people why they should be moving to the high deductible correct and so if we can continue that because I think that's going to be meaningful instead of waiting for those numbers to come out if we can do that simultaneously yeah 100% I mean um we we are very detailed in our communication not only with our um really hired employees but also during open enrollment um and so the numbers kind of speak for itself I mean we've seen tremendous growth in the high deductible Health Plan in large part because the board has um offered that zero premium option for employee only coverage and for the past three years years they've contributed to the health savings account so everything that the board has done has definitely helped us to um sell and to tell the story of how the high deductible Health Bank a benefit for them um thank you thank you okay we will now have a presentation by uh Mr Crest on the pool complex project update thank you so good afternoon Madame chair school board members superintendent Maine I'm here to give you an update on the pool project um there will be one slide change because this this timeline for the pool projects is fluid at this point in time but we are narrowing down to an exact date of when we're going to receive some proposals for the pool but I'll go through the timeline now is actually slide number four um this was the current timeline we had everything due for the 10th of January um we got back from all three holidays Thanksgiving Christmas and New Year's and unfortunately what I predicted happen um being in the construction field for over 20 years we had vendors on vacation they had offices half open even though they were running um so basically we got back the first week of January and we had two vendors say they would not give us a proposal and then last week we had two vendors said they would do a proposal but they would need till the 24th because now they're fully staffed and they would be able to put that proposal together so if you look at the next slide um which I updated on the PowerPoint and I can give you a copy if you want an updated copy but basically from 129 to 1224 each contractor was able to do a site visit and then basically prepare the proposal for us on um January 24th the proposal is due to our office at 300 p.m. um and then once we get that proposal from the 27th through the 31st we will look at two proposals now because we actually have two contractors um putting together that price um and then once we get those put together we will put together that PO and then my goal is in February so this first item um to back up a little bit on 11:19 at the school board meeting we got direction from the school board to proceed with option number one option number one had a course of action number six and a course of action um actually 6A and then a course of action number one the course of a action it items under 6A are the electrical items only so we're trying to address the higher concerned issues now the items under under number one are more um everything non-electrical I can put it that way it has guard rails paint things like that so that'll pick that'll take a separate um proposal request that we will have to go out with different art with different um not Architects but different contractors because it's a different type of field um the one we're putting together now under sixa Deals Only with electrical so those are electrical contractor issues only um the one that we will start in February will deal with all the other items which is a separate contract dealing with those items so that's currently where we are with the project um but I did want to provide you an update with the timeline as it Flex flexed with the holidays and everything moving forward in January um and I do have a copy if you want a copy of that update I can give that to you after I speak here but I'm willing to take any questions at this point uh Mr cist how does this affect the overall timeline or are you going to get to that so it hasn't affected the overtime line when we presented in November we said it could take anywhere from zero to 12 months to get this accomplished and our goal is actually hit the time frame of the the swim season which which is next fall right so right now we're still in that time frame um but like I said my biggest fear was we hit the perfect Time of the Season where you have three holidays falling back to back and in my in my experience even as an architect we always had trouble with contractors during Thanksgiving Christmas and New Year's because somewhere in there they're taking off a week so that's almost four weeks of time to get anybody to respond to anything but we still push it for we had everything out on the 9th um even though they didn't respond or they didn't call us back some of them um right before Christmas said they weren't going to do anything we had two respond that they weren't going to bid it and then basically those first 10 days of January we had two responded they were and they were actually out to the site and visited last week so they're working on that proposal now and we'll get them on the 24th but we're still fing within that window I mean I'll give you an update if we see that window falling but right now we're falling on the schedule I thought we would be on at this point in time thank you or am I don't understand we currently have two two um biders we do okay and just to clarify on the 19th um the board actually approved a contract that we're using that Palm Beach County already approved I think it had eight contractors on there so we contacted four of them now two of them said no and two of them are bidding it is there a possibility of more people bidding on it or we closing that window at this point I only needed three to bid um so now we we we've actually have four bid four no bid or two no bids and two contractors's bidding so we're okay with that proc okay but I'm glad we have two because then we can at least compare two different prizes the updated dates that you have that you're saying you're going to give to us would it be possible for you to upload that the agenda item so that the public will have it I can give that to Diane thank you we just made those changes roughly last week as contractors were informing us they couldn't do the work and we were trying to keep the process movings we had to adjust some of the dates Madam chair if I can ask a question um Chief Tazo was there a page I know we had discussed at executive team or uh Dr Miller creating a page on the district website for full transparency of the timeline of where we're at with the pool similar to what we did with negotiations so that the community was able to track that or at least we can refer them back to that site has that been uh in the works or has that been completed or still AO yes thank you it is definitely in the works uh Chief Tazo is checking right now to see if it is actually updated but it was in the works as of last week and if it's not updated including this slide as well so yes it was updated on 1217 and we will include these latest updates from tonight thank you Dr Miller the community people that contact us are they aware that they can go to the website to see the updates I feel like there there might be a way to eliminate um what should I call it the communication of what's going on where are we if if we can direct them to the website and it's real time as to how things are happening I think we can um be way more efficient yes ma'am I agree with you and especially this presentation that uh Mr cess is giving right now now um this was pushed out to people that inquired but when this gets on the website 100% we will be directing people there and that'll be a constant spot with all of the updates that when the emails or the inquiries come in we can push them right to that information any further question thank you so now we're going to move move to uh topics for our March 7th joint meeting Dr Mari Ari are there any topics you would like to have us present to the Joint meeting we're going to just go in a row here um so I think and I guess I would look to Derek I think we should do something with our specialty programs so that pieces that we're pushing out now so that would be specialty programs it would be March 1st would be um controlled open enrollment and then the third thing I think that we should really push which I think we've been doing a really good job at is kindergarten and hopefully that you know I think that that's um VPK kindergarten that early learning piece because I think that's really a place that we can recover some FTE I mean I think that children who come to your school school when they're that young and then they know where the bathroom is and they know where the lunchroom is and they know where the library is and they know all those other things they tend to stay and um those parents tend to get involved and they tend to stay so I think the better we the better job we do at that at promoting that and pushing that whether it's the kindergarten blastoff piece whether it's the VPK enrollment piece I mean but I think those pieces are something that we could really get some mileage out of um so that's would be what I would would be looking at Miss Roberts on my list so thank you um do we want to talk about our branding efforts at the schools the naming we absolutely can um is it too soon well it's definitely not too soon um we have one we're call we're pushing the schools through in cohorts so we can give them individualized attention with first of all working with the um sites and their school advisory councils on what they're looking to accomplish with whether it's a Rebrand of something they've had but they kind of want to um bring it into where we're going now or if it's an up brand where they've never had really any um attractor programming and we're trying to get that established for them we're having them work not only with our Innovation and choice department and the public information office but we're giving them one-on-one attention from um the Donovan Group which is our school um community Communications professionals that assist them with kind of identifying their value propositions and what they what they have to do to get a brand up and running um you all heard a couple I want to say it was probably a couple months ago now from the first cohort of schools where they came forward and gave their presentations we've now moved on into cohort 2 um which involves about the same number of schools and we're going to keep working through that process until all of our schools have something established and then give them the ongoing um professional development and support to keep those things running to understand what it really means to Market to understand what what kind of capital upgrades and professional learning is required so we can absolutely give you any information you're looking for and I know Miss baros is here too she's been heavily involved because this is a heavy lift for the Innovation and choice office what they're doing as well yeah maybe just give like a little presentation of a school that's already gone through it and one that you're taking through to show them both absolutely both sides yeah I I would say our first cohort definitely with the specialty Pathways is of and running um I I think like with anything new that hasn't happened before it's word of mouth is the best sales tool that you can have especially for these programs in elementary where we've never had these authentic attractor programs so we're really going to kind of get our footing in this first specialty Pathways application and and as those programs build and parents realize yes this is something that's new this is how it's happening on my child's campus they speak to their friends and neighbors we really kind of see the fruits of of that labor but we'd be happy to have you know have that put together for you okay thank you Mrs Bridget um maybe we could strategically pick say like two elementary schools or an elementary in a middle school that we would like to kind of like Target that have been through this process and really try to to highlight those to see if we can drive some enrollment at those schools so kind of instead of like all of our schools are doing a branding if we just were like here's XYZ Middle School Etc and we want to tell you about the exciting things that are happening at this school and what's going on there that people might want to be interested in and and come to enroll so then it I think that might um I don't know what do you think yeah I don't wantan to I don't want an overall I I want to be specific so where the successes are and and how it's work working absolutely and we're trying to tell some of those vignettes with social media and with different things that we do with our advertising um to kind of get an awareness about it we're tying in like when we have content from a school that relates to the pathway we're reminding parents that this is something new and they can apply now but that is definitely part of our overall strategy is to make sure that we tie more of what our content is to miss Robert's point to make sure that people know that these are things that are happening that are new and we want to kind of make parents and and the community be able to feel what those are and we have had some success with those there's Somey that I think are really resonating with people because it really fits into the culture of where that school you know whe whether the school where it's located or kind of some programming that they've already had in place and we definitely we can bring some of that to you but I just know that it is part of our strategy with public information to tie that into our ongoing story through this application period thank you madam chair um um Mrs Powers is following along on the workshop she cannot be here this evening but since she is following along there's been a request for staff to give an update on the pool's progress at the Joint meeting Dr Millard you heard that an update on the pool as well for the joint meeting yes thank you so now we're going to go to school board policies let me just get to my and this is policy 601 511301 school choice intradistrict resend do I have any discussion actually I want to take a moment is there anyone in the audience who would like to comment on any of these policies seeing none I can move on now so this is a recension does anyone have any discussion about this policy V on this we just okay so the next the next policy is 6.02 and this is 51132 school choice for full-time employees any discussion on this one yes so we had an update on this one correct on page three adding some language yellowed language under scope of assignment um which I think is good anyone else the next policy is 6.3 5113 .03 school choice for residents and non-residents new is there any discussion on this policy uh Chief deshazo did you want to talk about this at all to give us a kind of explanation I I absolutely I can answer any questions you may have the intent of the kind of the revisions of these policies and the resending of 511301 was to kind to BR to bring all of our policies into an agreement with one another um the established policies the way they were written they were accurate but some of the language contradicted each other especially when we're in situations where we're operating um districtwide controlled open enrollment so all of these policies are kind of designed to work in tandem to address all of our school choice considerations and all of the different um preference levels whether it be for in-county residents employee preference those types of things anyone have any questions about about this thank you the next policy is 6.04 5121 controlled open enrollment ahead um so this is a re so there's a couple comments about controlled open enrollment one is I think as a board we should be aware that um when we designate and correct me if I'm wrong when we designate a school as open for controlled open enrollment and we don't put any limits on it it opens the entire school and removes it from the ability to do choice or anything else it throws it into the controlled open enrollment Arena where this then takes place with the buckets and with the phase one phase two Etc correct and you're nodding your head that that's correct um so I think that in the past I think it's something that we need to remember in our heads that when we're opening schools for controlled open enrollment if we want to change that in any way and say we're going to reserve X number of seats or we're going to do 90% or we're going to put some parameter on that that then it gives us the ability to maintain some some seats for choice that we would lose when we designate the whole stools controlled open enrollment is that correct okay um and then that being said I know that on page three um one of the changes that's being proposed that we have to decide what what we want to do so the so remember when you apply the first thing is that in March correct me if I'm wrong the whole month of March is considered one day so anybody who applies in the month of March it doesn't matter if you apply on the 1st or the 31st all those people are going to go into a lottery but everybody who you get in the month of March ends up in a bucket which we call phases that is correct and if we have for instance if we have a hundred seats we start with phase one all the people that are in Phase One if it's less than a 100 they are all going to get a seat we don't need to run a numeric Lottery with that if we had 100 seats and there were 200 people in phase one they would need to be a lottery and they would be assigned in that order once that bucket is exhausted you go to the next bucket the next bucket so on page three you're asking us whether we want to introduce into this the ability to create a bucket between the district people who are in phase one phase one meaning active duty foster care Etc employee children that type of thing those would all be people who are sitting in Phase One um phase two normally is people who do not meet that requirement they're in District but they don't meet any of those requirements and I think the the option that we're being faced with is if in between those two we create another bucket that says if you want to be in a specialty pathway program you would get to be in another bucket so if you would normally be in bucket two which would then become bucket three correct you would now have priority over those other people if you picked a specialty pathway so for instance if Brian and I are sitting in bucket two we don't meet any of the other requirements we're not foster children we're not military we're not employee children Etc and we're sitting here but we're in District we would normally be sitting in the same bucket but if he agreed that he was going to a signature pathway program he would be given a priority over me who wasn't interested in a signature pathway that is correct it's a method to prioritize our um strategic plan future Readiness so that we prioritize students who want to enter acceleration mechanisms or specialty Pathways in our high schools and then later um further down when you go into the next group of buckets which are then including outof count students but so it's out of count students that are um military foster care etc those people um and then there were those people that were out of County and then you sat there and you said okay now I've got another bucket of people who don't meet any of those requirements um this was adding that same intermediate bucket in between the two for specialty Pathways that's correct that would allow um out of District or out of County students uh priority into one of our specialty Pathways over someone who doesn't want to be in a specialty pathway so an example would be a student from St Lucy County applying to go to South Fork but if they want to be in IB or in one of our specialty Pathways they would be at a higher priority than someone who does not so that addition would allow for us to prioritize the specialty Pathways so I'm interested in I don't know how the rest of you feel but I'm interested in adding those intermediate buckets for specialty Pathways I think that would be appropriate to to do that the other thing I wanted to clear up just so that we have a clear understanding of this in both um phase one and let's call it phase it would be phase four now which is the bucket that talks about active duty military foster care Etc um one bucket being the people who are in living in Martin County and another bucket being the people who are not living in Martin County those buckets in control open enrollment also include employees children of employees and I and so I want to understand this correctly that if we when we do controlled open enrollment so let's say we take um Anderson Middle School and we open it wide open for open enrollment that if we hold anything back that that gives us the ability to use the other policy not the controlled open enrollment policy but the choice policy for employ employees and allows us so that if I lived in Port St Lucy and you live in Martin County and we're both working for the school district that if they designate that school as controlled open enrollment we're in our children are in different buckets but if we pull out some seats to hold back for choice not for controlled open enrollment it creates a situation from a hiring perspective Etc to be able to say that you're your employees have the ability to get assigned to a school Etc without having to do the controlled open enrollment with if I'm reading the policy correctly with the same benefits of controlled open enrollment as long as I'm an employee and good standing Etc um that my child can stay there through their term to the highest grade which kind of is mimicking the controlled open enrollment piece is that correct that is correct so what it would do for our employees would give them the highest priority so if you're employed here and you live out of our County you get the highest priority to just be like you're zoned for that school it's an automatic approval if the new policy or the amended policy goes through but even if the amended policy goes through we still need to be careful because if we open wide open for controlled open enrollment and designate an entire school for open enrollment I've eliminated that yes then it makes it very challenging to not be exceeding the number of seats available when an employee applies for a seat I think I understand thank you all right so the next policy is 6.05 6560 retiree health insurance Mr Calderone okay um so this is the second time um that we are seeing this board policy we were here in September of 2024 and this policy was first brought off for discussion and at that time the board had some data requests um and our staff has worked together um to present that data and so just looking for direction from the board if you want I can go through it um or if you've had a chance to take a look at it I can answer any questions more than happy to do uh whatever the board wishes everyone has G through the policy so I think it's discussion that we need and I'll start with Dr Brian well it's easier to okay um so let me try to break this into into buckets again okay so the first thing we have is we have a health insurance subsidy right so the State of Florida gives a health insurance subsidy based on your years of teaching experience um and you're and you get a and that number has recently increased yeah it's years of service years of service and that number has increased um and they went from $5 to 7 a half um we were at $5 and that and this was as background this was brought in when we did the conversion back whenever of trying to get retirees to understand that they could get Medicare supplements and it would be a much more appropriate health insurance Choice um but we did this and if I'm reading this correctly we have it's cting us a million dollars a year correct correct um and at the million dollars a year so this is just one piece of it so this one is costing us a million dollars a year so I think in this case for the million dollars a year since we were we got our we got it so that if you were an employee and you got five from the state for every year you then got 10 um because we were throwing in if the state is throwing in s 50 I think at the very least we should be cutting that in half which would put us at 550 for the number they would still be getting their the 10 um I'm not sure how much longer we can afford to keep paying this but I guess in my world I would say that the health insurance subsidy if I were doing it I would say we're cutting it in half we would rewrite the policy so instead of being $5 for every year of service it's $2.50 for every year of service and it it expires at some point in time that it's for the next on pick a day you know um December 31st of 2035 it goes away completely um I don't think I don't know of any other District that's doing it are you aware of any District that's doing this I am not aware of any other District that's doing this um I've been here almost nine years Pam kimberland our coordinator benefits and leave has been here even longer we have reached out to all of our resources uh different conferences different um list serves there's nobody that we are aware of that does a specific District subsidy um for health insurance I I know that Mrs pow is Mrs Powers listening is she in in the I know she's watching she's not live uh through our CL but she's listening I know that she was part of this discussion when we initially had it so I'm curious as to what her thoughts are but my thought is that we cut it by an if we do something with it if we're short of eliminating it we cut it by a number for a certain number of years and then it goes away but Marsha if you're listening can you beam us down a thought please so that yeah yeah on on yes so we can break it down into pieces so let's just talk about the health insurance subsidy first yeah okay that was going to be my suggestion as well bringing it back down you know by 250 keeping it at 10 so it's the same also putting it far out because we have to understand even people who are going to be you know who are in the drop program they've anticipated amount of money that's coming forward right I mean so they're I just want to make sure that we are thoughtful of how we're backing it down so putting it out to like you said 2035 I'm okay something like that the date that's pushed out so that way they can plan for that properly abely so why did the F FRS up it to 750 Mr calron I don't have an answer for that you um that was something that was decided by the governor in July of 2023 that was signed into law so um I think that the the reasoning behind that is to assist retirees with the increasing cost of health care but um so it's been a great thing from an F FRS perspective and the board has um this is the first time the board's taken a look at this specific policy since that law changed on July 1st 20123 yeah I mean we could definitely use to save the money in the district I just want to be very careful that we're not that we sensitive to this group and that we're aware that how they should be treated so I like that we're doing something and we're doing the 250 and I like that we're pushing it out um so I think I would go along with that because at least there's something um I actually went back to 2015 and watched that meeting Mrs Roberts a vivid one you have an age today you're so and Mrs Powers was there as well four and a half hour meeting great meeting and the community was very uh they showed up and I just want to make sure that we're sensitive to this group and that we're doing the right thing so but I do understand that we have a budget and that we have to to do what's best for the district as well so um that's why I asked that question and um thank you buckets so that was bucket number one that was the health insurance subsidy the next piece has to do with um a stipend for people who stay on our health insurance policy and I'm going to divide those into two groups bucket number one in that being the people who are um who are not in drop so the people who are actually retired so I have an actual retiree so let's say I worked 30 years for the district I started when I was 20 I worked 30 years for the district I retired when I was 50 um and we and if you had 30 years of exper experience or 30 years of work with the district the district has agreed that we will give you $6,500 a year to help pay for your insurance if you had um 20 years of experience you got half of that so there was a 100% 75 50 and 25% number um this is also unusual for what the the whole everybody in the state is doing it's part of the Martin County difference I think um we're looking at I believe it's 117 people correct joh correct there there is a 117 retirees that are currently on the district's group health insurance plan um if you take a look at the slide that we pulled up here we have them um organized by years of service so you can see based on years of service how much the board is um contributing and that is based on the $6,500 active employee contribution towards medical insurance so so the total cost for that over 15 years is $2 million correct 2.1 million so it's 2.1 but that's over a 15year spread and and the part that was difficult however many years ago that was was somebody who retired right who in doing their financial planning was figuring that they were going to have access to a health insurance policy and that was part of their planning part of their budgeting part of their planning Etc and now they're to to say well no no no you're not going to get any of that seemed a little bit um harsh and uncaring in order to do that so I mean and when you look at this and you're looking at the numbers um 25% of the number is coming in this year like 510 of it is like right away and then it kind of tapers off at the very least I think we should stop it at some point so even if you said at the end in June of 2038 because we have no cost that this no longer happens what that means is that if you're planning on retiring you're 50 years old you're planning on retiring you're given notice that it still is available for a period of time but when you reach whatever age you reach in 2038 it will not be available so it'll continue and I want to be clear that this is the 117 people that are here on the insurance now that if somebody retires tomorrow they get added to this list and this 2.1 something goes up correct correct so um Pam kimberland and Gabrielle Swain from the group work to um take the numbers based what we had on file from September of 2024 so all the numbers that you're seeing here is based on September 2024 data but yes so and and I think what I'm thinking is if there's a middle ground so that you say Okay anybody who's currently any of these 117 people who are currently on here this is the plan for you we will give you this right and I know that you people are costing me $2 million in order to do that for any new retiree you can have it for five years you can have it for you know some period of time so that if you're planning you know you're 50 years old you're 60 years old and you're working on planning your retirement to have this just yanked from you I I really think is pulling the rug out from you and I think that's something that that is harsh for lack of a better word so I mean I but I think if you gave people four or five years of notice I think that's enough notice to say you can count on me for that period of time but if you're if you're 50 years old and you're thinking about retiring and you thought you were going to get 6,500 every year for the next 15 years you might want to work another five years and cut that cut that in half right and do something along those lines then would that cost us any more money if they so like anything that we do is going to cost us more than this but I mean so if we said never again like you 117 that are here now never again we're not doing anything for you um we would like if we told 117 people sorry you're not getting anything that would save us the $2 million over 15 years right but I think that's a little that's a lot of bad press yeah that's the harsh so I think that's that's kind of and I think when you look further out when you're looking at 2031 2032 where your numbers are less less than a 100,000 those numbers don't really concern me if if those numbers didn't grow but if if Mrs pritchet retires at 50 next year and we keep something in play those numbers will grow so I'm thinking that these people are um given a pass and allowed to stay in at the 2 million and that we pick a period of time and say for the next X number of years we will do whatever it is we're going to do I agree with that what I don't agree with is the amounts that they're getting with the new batch of people I think we need to shave it okay so I'm I'm willing to listen to anybody's ideas but I do like the idea of leaving these 117 as they are but anyone new coming on has a date where it ends and I think we can use that by years is reasonable or I whatever other people think I mean I don't know what the magic number is but I think the amounts that we're giving annually should be yeah and the only problem I have with the annual amounts I would rather cut the number of years you're getting it than cut the amount because if you're sitting here right now in January thinking you're going to retire at the end of the year and you're planning on in your planning you're thinking you're going to get 6,500 to find out through social media that that number just got dropped I think is a harsher cut than finding out you're still going to get the 6,500 but there's a finite life to it you're not going to get the 6,500 for until you're 65 you're going to get it for X number of years and you plan accordingly but then we have we've given people a CH chance to plan I mean I think that's so somebody who's looking I mean because I'm sure we have people who are say 60 years old who are planning on retiring at the end of this year and who are thinking in their mind that they that it's 6,500 knowing that it can go away but thinking well the board would never do that you know but I mean I kind of feel that um well I'm let's I do tend I mean I'm he said only because I feel like you know put in their shoes what would I want somebody to do for me and you know like she said they've already planned to have that amount and I would hate especially with the time going through right now money's tight for everyone so I want to be cognizant of that and make sure that you know if we're going to do it we give them plenty of time to plan for an alternate path how they can come up with the extra money how they can figure this out but if we take money away from them cut the years they have time to plan if we take the money and start stepping it down right away they're going to have to fast and not everybody has the means to do so does five years seem reasonable I mean I'm okay with that I mean maybe five to seven you know no we have to we have to find ways to to save money and it 10 years is basically what it's another we're looking at this line here we're talking about the same kind of money Madam chair um some feedback from Mrs Powers uh would be to and I'm not sure at what point I think it was to Mrs Roberts uh request was to decrease to two and a half um and then cut after year after three years for it to expire July 1 of 27 so she's talking about the health the first piece the first piece yes I just wanted to make sure that was said though okay no no want do we should we finish this up and then go back and decide we want to entertain that or fin how do we want to I for the record I just wanted that to be on the table for the feedback so all right um I we could we could we could finish up with this bucket and then go back to the other one because I Julie brought up a good point and I just want to clarify um something you said about the over 65 so we can keep talking about this bucket okay so and if Marca has something she can call in with her information on that um so so anyway that's my thinking is that these PE the people that are the people that we know over the next so many years are going to cost us 2.1 million we thank you for your service we understand that you retired we know you're our best ambassadors out there for how great our schools district is ETC we've lived up to the promise that we made to you we didn't take anything away from you um you're costing us 2.1 million over that period of time but we're willing to to figure out how to make that work so that's that piece and oh I'm sorry no and I just want to add that um our district is also the only District um within our neighboring districts comparing to Palm Beach Indian River St Lucy and even okachobee that the district contributes towards the retire health insurance under 65 so all of our neighboring districts will offer the same plans that the they can roll in actives but they're not contributing anything at all right basically when you retire you don't get anything else you can stay enrolled in the plan but you're not getting anything board and I'm thinking that if you say even if you kept these numbers the same the 6,500 Etc um and you said if you retire in the next five years anytime in the next five years if you meet the requirements this is the money that you get but there's a date certain on it you know there's a date certain certain that this is going to go away on January 1st of 2030 it doesn't happen anymore the only people that will be getting a payment towards their health insurance after January 1st of 2030 will be people who are one of these 117 people that are still alive and still on District insurance that we go to 2035 is what we were thinking no or no well the 20 so the so the people who are existing the will go out to 2038 okay so they get so all of these people so whenever they retired in here before these 2017 that are already retired get what they right I thought we had suggested 10 years that's why I said was it 2025 no 10 years that was for the health insurance for the health insurance oh for that one okay and that's the one that buck Mara wants to make it three we'll go to that this is the one where we're giving a right a certain number this is the $2 million price tag got it so this is saying that if you're this is January of 2025 and if you were planning on retiring in um the end of this year in the summer of 2025 instead of saying you get nothing I think there's a fiveyear period of time that you will get if you have 30 years of experience you will get 65 if you have 25 years of experience you will get 75% and so you know so that gives you some time to plan so if you were on retiring you have five years you got five years to figure it out and figure and it also gives you the opportunity maybe I won't retire yet yeah maybe I'll wait so if I understand in recap the current 117 retirees will go out to their the span that you have on here uh 20 38 is the last time they'll get money well until until they reach age 65 and then when they reach page 65 they go into that other bucket of um the Martin County health insurance subsidy okay but so or not but we're just talking about these 117 right now these are people the 117 that get money to help pay for their health insurance until they reach the age of 65 correct correct that's what we're talking about correct yes and any new ones that enter currently besides these so anyone new five years and and it stops okay so they get the same 6,500 annually if they have 30 years of experience or 30 years of service or more and then dropping down to the 75 50 25 but that they don't get another payment after January 1 or it doesn't get paid for anymore it gets prated into their payments right right so I think what I'm hearing is that you want to the 117 you want to keep whole and then new retirees within the five years you would like to keep whole but it all ends on and I think that's when the board 2030 that's the board five years yes January 1 June whatever that date is yes June 30 2030 so that if I am 64 years 303 yeah 303 4 years old and I retire in June of 2029 I will get this with 30 years of experience for that the next year that one Gap year until I hit Medicare age I will get $6,500 okay right correct and then to go back to the old bucket then what happens when they turn 65 do they are they entitled to that $250 so we're going back there you understand this one right I I got this one yeah I got this one okay so back to the health insurance subsidy bucket where we said the number will be dropped to two $2.50 a month um and I think the start date should be the July 1 the July one date right okay so I think I think we should make that the July one date when we're starting our year of this year this year right so that would be July July 1 of 2025 they start getting 250 and they get it for 10 years now the question then is do they all get it or do they get it do the ones who are getting it now get it what about the new ones or what about the new ones that you're they go do they go in that tenure or do they go I think you give them five years I think think it's the same thing it's the same fiveyear period it's consistent it's it's five years so if you're new joining this bucket you retire you're over 65 you're getting a health insurance sub subsidy and I see that look back there you're getting I'm trying to think how we're going to administer but I got it we'll get it yeah but you get you get the health insurance subsidy so these people who are getting it now the only thing that they're going to see different is it's going to drop to 250 so the people in the health insurance subsidy that are costing a million dollars a million one right that cost is going to drop us to 550 okay for the existing people the existing 764 retirees for the next 10 years will get 250 per year instead of $5 per year so that cost gets caught in half anybody knew who retires and get a health insurance subsidy but that runs out after five years and in five years we're out of so the only health insurance subsidy business we're in after five years is this 764 for another five years that make sense yeah I'm just going to interrupt to say that Mrs Powers is going to call in and weigh in good I think I think that's changed Mrs pitchet so she's we're we're good you're not taking a vote she said she's good okay um so did we want to discuss three years over five years or has that been this Powers recommended possibly three years instead of five years I know it's a lot to absorb but I want to make sure that everybody's heard sure i' cut it in half and say four years for the new people we're saying or she's saying three years instead of five years and so I'm saying let's make it four years so for the new people that are coming in to these pools if you will instead of five years for the subsidy three years for the subsidy sure would you like a staff recommendation yes okay my recommendation would be for however long you decide you want to give the over 65 Martin County health insurance subsidy I think it my opinion is that it should end on a certain date whether you've been in there for the next 10 years or three years four years I think my opinion is you should have a hard stop date so you know when the final payment of that health insurance subsidy is because you're still I just think it's going to be easier to administer to communicate and it's it's a lot to have to go on an individual basis I I that's my recommendation didn't we say 63030 well 630 35 I think you had said for those that are currently in it they were going to get it for 10 more years right is that what you said for 10 years they were going to get this 250 you talk about the health insurance subsidy or what are you talking about the health insurance subsidy the five the now the 250 per month per year service so what we were talking about with the health insurance subsidy is allowing the people who are in there now they're going to get it for the time that they for 10 years they would get 250 per year of service for 10 years got that okay right and then new people who were coming into it so that's the you got it on two different pages for me are you saying put the new people for 10 years too Mr no he's saying a hard date I thought we said 63030 I have written down that you said 63030 was to end the under 65 contribution okay all right so five years from now what is the last date of when school isn't it when when the year ends make it that date in that year five years out okay so let me try to so the people who are under age 65 okay we're keeping the $2.1 million people the $2.1 million people are all so if you're sitting at home and you're getting a you're retired and you're getting a contribution towards your health insurance and you had 30 or more years of experience you're going to get 600 $6,500 a year until you get to age 65 and you go on Medicare okay got it if you're planning on retiring soon then you will only be eligible for this this 6500 or whatever the number is lesser if you have lesser years of service you will only be eligible for that number until June 30th of 2030 got it okay that yes so that's item number one one item number two is the health insurance subsidy so the health insurance subsidy which is the thing that costs us a million dollars a year for the people who are currently in it not counting anybody else who is retiring but the people who are currently in it we have 764 of those so the discussion on the 764 that's costing us a million one is to cut those people in half and cut them down to 250 which means those 764 would come to it as a cost of 550 then we're going to address the ones that are joining the pool afterwards quite frankly I I'm completely happy with if you join the pool after it's it's gone you're over 65 and it's gone and just say we're not even dealing with that if you're over 65 you're getting 750 from the state the reason that the state raised it is because they wanted they knew that the cost had gone up they wanted to pay it but we're the only ones doing it correct so over 65 it's over over 60 for the health insurance subsidy that the health insurance subsidy goes away the health so the health insurance subsidy for the people who are currently getting it the $5 per year of service yeah right so if you have um 20 years of service service you're getting a monthly stien and right now it's $5 per year of service and you're getting 750 per year of service from the state so you're getting $10 total per month you're getting 12250 now 1250 now they're going to 10 they go into 10 I'm just wondering who's going to track all of this to keep track of this our department I mean this is confusing to just listen to I mean I can't even imagine people in the audience what they might be thinking but Don you're going to keep track of every person that's when and where and we have it we we fully um confident yeah so um part of our um Partnership of having bentech be our benefit enrollment system um over the C past couple years Sandy eart from our office helped develop with bentech um a retiree Suite so we actually track all of our retirees in bentech same as active employees so we we can do it but I guess the board just needs to kind of come to a conclusion on um if there's going to be any kind of quote new enrollment in the Martin County health insurance subsidy um after this after they reach 65 or over because we have 764 on there right now that are going to get dropped to 250 starting on July 1st 2025 but I guess my question is to you all is for those that are going to be turning 65 within the next 10 years when this is still in play u what happens to those people those retires I think the subsidy goes away okay but that's me give them five years give at the 250 and give them five years of it and once they leave so correct me if I'm wrong Sandra but once they leave they can't come back and get it back correct so once they've left and they don't claim it and they don't get it then they don't come they don't resurface right yeah you have to retire with one of our district sponsored group health plans to have it as retiree can't retire then come back I'm okay with the five five years with the 250 a year for five years and say it's the same five years that we're saying for the other things if you're coming up and you're you're retiring or you're reaching that age you know I think the difference is though you're Medicare you're on Medicare and and we're struggling to give our current teachers subsid subsidy for for the increase in health insurance I feel like we we should be using the money for the teachers here that's just nothing against retirees but once you're on Medicare I feel like Medicare takes takes that plus they're going to continue to get the 750 from the state so it isn't I don't it's $75 a month is what it comes out to be at 250 well I I'm I'm I'm willing to get rid of it completely I'm willing to think over 65 is a totally different scenario um and they're going to know way ahead of time this isn't like we're springing on on them we're correct yeah correct and um you know I'm trying to be sensitive of all the different um variables here but the board is still going to contribute um the percentage of the contribution of the $6500 for the next five years so that's very fair and we are the only School District in the State of Florida that we're aware of that even does something over 65 none of our neighboring districts do anything for those that are under 65 I think Madam five years is fair Madam chair if if I can make a recommendation that you've all given some clear direction to staff let staff put all of that together very clear and delineated for each bucket and for us to be able to bring back the final the recommendation this is just the first time you all are putting you you have time this is going to come back to you again so I want staff to be able to clean it up put it all into those buckets spelled out and then bring it to the board back forward to the board that's fine with me then we have one more so did you want us to continue discussing what our preferences were do you want the staff to give us what do you I don't understand what you're saying no you can keep going I just wanted to move us along from that one because staff's going to need to be able to take all of those recommendations and and type them up and be ready to go and you're down a board member but it's only a recommendation so right so what was the pleasure of the board for the um the over 65 five years five years okay then the third piece what is our third bucket that's one two and the third bucket is people who [Music] are those that are in drop the drop people yeah you yeah yeah you kind of talked about those though because um because there're yeah because you said for um those 17 current retirees you're going to keep whole and then also you said new ones that retire within 5 years so that that is not only making up your drop employees but also any employees that are in the F FRS investment plan that may retire as well so you gave us another sheet I know that the 2.1 is taking care of the 117 that aren't in drop don't I have another sheet that's giving me the numbers yeah so this was a little bit more difficult to um gather but slide nine um we you know there's two types of retirement plans with the F FRS the the drop pension and then investment plan so um the default plan that employees enroll in now through FS is the investment plan so um we have a thousand employees enrolled in that but if you take a look at um those employees that are age 50 or older we have 374 of those employees that are in in the investment plan um those people are very difficult to try to predict when they're going to retire because as long as they meet F FRS retirement eligibility they could retire at any time so it's very difficult to um to track those down don't we know who's currently in drop who is employed in the Martin County School District who is currently in drop yeah we do we have that that's that's this number right here the ones that are in drop but there's also employees that are in the investment plan that are not in drop that could are eligible for retire when they meet those F FRS requirements really the investment plan doesn't offer drop drop is through the pension right but the drop people are the one who are prohibited if so it's my understanding that once I've signed up for drop I can't change my mind and say wait I don't want to do this this now I need to work three more years right you have yeah um f FRS change law so now you have eight years you could be in dropped for up to eight years but you have to retire by that but once I tell them I'm in drop I can't all of a sudden say I'm 50 years old I'm 51 years old is that true or not true that's true the the date that you give them your drop date that's your drop date that's my drop date and I can't decide all of a sudden wait wait no I want to change my mind I don't want to be in drop anymore no you you have to retire by that drop date you could retire early but you can't extend it okay so the people I'm concerned with is I'm concerned with the District employees that have specified a retirement date the ones who have signed up for drop who don't have the flexibility to say whoops I changed my mind let me work three more years based on what you guys have done here and take me out of drop I don't have the ability to get out of drop correct correct so we're talking about 88 employees that are currently in drop right correct and let's talk about the 66 of them that are under age 65 correct okay so the 66 of them that are under age 65 I which you're showing me a liability over 15 years I think we should match that with the fiveyear period that we did for the under 65 not Medicare eligible so that if I signed up for drop six years ago I I said I'm going to retire in two years and now all of a sudden I'm not Medicare eligible I think I fall under that current retirees under 65 not Medicare eligible like my friends the 117 friends but the brand new ones that are trying to join the group of 117 and a new one who's joining the group of 17 has a 5year limit on them correct right that's what I have from the previous discussion yes so I think if you're in drop that you join that group of people that you have the fiveyear period of time does that make I I have written no the date is June 30th 2030 yeah that's what I that's the date it's a date certain it's not a fiveyear staggered period because I think that would drive us nuts yeah right correct so if I'm in drop right now and I retire on June 30th 2027 I know that I am going to have the benefits of an under 65 retire reath until June 30th 3030 correct okay what about if their date is eight years out you said it could be up to eight years correct what if it's longer than five years well would they just based on the discussion that the board has had that it will you will be good until June 30th 3030 but then after that there's no more um contribution towards that that insurance for retirees so but they're still active though they're so working they're they're they're active employees they're getting the same contribution as somebody that's not in drop you can you can retire within that drop period at any time as long as you meet the f uh eligibility requirements but you can't extend your drop date right but you can move that up correct and I think five years is a decent planning window okay so are you clear on that I'm very clear yeah so um I think what we'll do staff will um per Mr M's request we'll go ahead and probably come up with with like another like abbreviated presentation and just make sure we've got everything we'll show you the numbers um and then we'll have to work with Mrs Falls to gather all that information and put it into um the Neola policy and you could start your process for that thank you thank you so that 6560 item number 605 is um pushed to another Workshop then right no it's it's going to policy it's going to come to an agenda right on on a regular meeting for a policy no what yeah this is to will come before us at a regular meeting or not I'm you have to vote on it so yes staff will put it together with everything that was discussed and then come back to an actual meeting on a on a note yeah a board meeting agenda correct okay thank you okay thank you just so I'm clear so it's going to come to an it's going to come however you're going to give us an update on this we're not making any decision but we're bringing forward a policy then so we have a current policy that that has to be modified to take into account these things yes so this is a policy that already exists that we are now taking and revamping it with all the these new uh we can bring It Forward at the February workshop for you to do another look at it to make sure that it is exactly the way you want it because a lot was discussed tonight correct and we want to make sure that all of you are 100% confident and comfortable with what you're voting on so my recommendation would be the February 1st Workshop February Workshop okay then you would do the then you would advertise for the advertising review for February with a final read in March correct yeah okay that's better thanks thanks Don thank you okay open to the board Mrs Russell okay Dr marii oh I like how I didn't go first thank you he went second yeah just a couple of quick things here um on board docs it still has Mr deer ley's name if we could I don't know who is in charge of that if we could change that out to me that would be great and I also just wanted to say that at a Stuart Chamber of Commerce meeting uh we had a great presentation from spam Robotics and uh those kids are really doing some amazing things and I just wanted to uh give kudos to that program thank you Mrs Roberts um yeah so I went to the the kickoff um the first whatever day that was um and it's it's an interest interesting and timely kind of um competition this time it has to do with water um and saving water and cleaning water and all those so I think for our community especially it's something that will probably resonate really well and um hopefully they'll be able to get a lot more support from entities that they wouldn't normally think of as being able to get support from because of the topic that was ped and they are planning on going to the World Championship in mid April in Houston superintendent M yes Madam chair I'm going to defer my time to a uh public comment Miss K uh Kelly R robato robato okay if if you would so much as inclined she could not make it at the exact time of public comment but she is here and she has been waiting so hi I'm Kelly robado um I am part of the Martin County Council PT PA as well as our local PTA uh the school my daughters go to I have a 9-year-old and a seven-year-old and a threey three-year-old who's hopefully G to be in Citrus grob next year um I just wanted to introduce myself we're going to try to be here more often our goal is to be more in front of everything um to share what parents are are interested in to kind of give you a voice and then also support you guys in any way that we can um through just Outreach and stuff so um um this year the Martin County Council has been uh actively working alongside various nonprofits for Mountain County um and we're connecting with our families uh doing family events the PT uh PTA is also doing unit training to help train our ptas and build up our ptas to support our schools um we're hosting month monthly meetings in advocacy group I personally chair the um advocacy and legislative group so my goal is to um Champion things for our ESC students for our second language Learners um so I'll be going to our legislative branches and helping to push that as well we um so yeah so we're trying to find ways to engage family and we appreciate the opportunity that Michael Ms and his team has given us um to be able to connect with them on a monthly basis and share what's going on in the schools and what we're seeing as parents things that we're concerned about so that way we can address them and so we just wanted to give a face to a name we will be trying to make every meeting now so that's we are thank you Kelly welcome e