Germantown School District decides to end long-term care benefit

Germantown - The Germantown School Board has taken a stand on long-term care benefits and while no official lawsuits have been filed, the district could be open to possible litigation.

Several weeks ago, the board voted to drop long-term care benefits for its current employees and some on the board suggested a new, cheaper benefit may take its place. Superintendent Sue Borden says no policy shopping has taken place, and on March 1, teachers, both retired and current, will lose long-term care as part of their insurance plans.

In December, the board voted to drop long-term care benefits for current employees, something it had the legal standing to do under Act 10. However, Wisconsin Education Association Trust officials told the district it would not cover retirees if current employees weren't also covered.

The district's legal counsel advised that retirees and some current employees may have solid legal standing to file suit saying the district breached its contract. About 103 retired staff members would be affected by this decision as well as all of the current staff not under contract.

Germantown administrators were warned in a memo from the district's attorneys that not only would retirees likely have a case against the district, but certain current staff may also have a case because they had vested significantly in the plan.

WEA Trust representative Steve Lyons said there are basically three options for staff, current and former, who wish to continue to receive this benefit. The first option would be to change to an individual plan which would be based on a similar structure to the current long-term plan, only it would be through a WEA affiliate and not the trust directly.

A so-called "conversion plan" would be another option, where retirees would get the same benefits as the old group plan, but at an individualized cost based on age.

The third option is an accelerated option where a retiree could pay the lump sum of the old group plan's cost to receive benefits for the life of the policy.

Borden said Germantown officials had met with staff to discuss options. She added there was no "formal indication" regarding a lawsuit, but admitted there are rumors.