photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

The Lawrence school district offices building, located at 110 McDonald Dr., is pictured in May 2025.

Lawrence school board members will consider new insurance plan benefits on Monday after anticipated increases in costs.

The changes to the employee medical, dental and vision insurance plans for the 2026-2027 school year are being proposed by the school district’s Fringe Committee. The biggest proposed change is to the district’s medical insurance funding model.

After medical premiums were projected to increase by 32%, the committee is proposing a switch from a fully insured plan to a self-funded plan. The change is expected to help control costs while still keeping health coverage available for employees.

A new Core Preferred Provider Organization plan would be offered at no cost to full-time employees, while the district’s current Core PPO and qualified high deductible health plans would become buy-up options. Coverage and provider networks through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas would remain the same, but the new employer-paid core plan would have higher deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.

The individual deductible would rise from $1,500 to $3,000, and the individual out-of-pocket maximum would increase from $5,000 to $6,500.

Among other changes, dental and vision coverage would stay the same, dental premiums would increase by 2.5% and vision premiums would decrease by 8%.

If the proposal is approved on Monday, the district’s combined medical, dental and vision insurance cost would increase slightly from $832.81 per month in 2025-2026 to $834.03 per month in 2026-2027. This is an increase of $1.22 per month, or $14.64 per year, per covered employee.

The committee also recommends replacing LegalShield with MetLife for legal and identity theft protection plans, saying the switch would improve benefits while lowering premiums.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, BOARD MEMBERS WILL:

• Receive a report on the 2025-2026 Needs Assessment, which includes feedback from school leaders across the school district about the challenges affecting student success. Kansas law requires districts to complete this type of assessment each year so school leaders can share barriers to student achievement, report them to the board and make the information available to the public.

The report will summarize the survey responses from each school’s leadership team, and they will be used to help guide the school board’s priorities and future budget decisions. The survey findings were not included in the agenda for Monday’s meeting as of Friday afternoon.

• Consider accepting bids from Meridian Roofing Solutions LLC for $294,920 and Danker Roofing and Siding Inc. for $75,096 for roof replacement and repairs at West and Billy Mills middle schools, respectively. A 10% contingency or $37,000 is anticipated when performing repairs, along with an estimated engineering fee of $20,350. The total project estimated cost is $427,366.

• Consider a proposal from RD Johnson Excavating LLC for emergency repairs to the fire suppression waterline at Southwest Middle School in the amount of $36,208. On April 17, a leak in the waterline was identified, and the contractor reported that the exterior of the pipe has significantly deteriorated. A temporary stainless steel repair band was installed to stop the leak until a permanent replacement can be completed.

• Hold an executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters of non-elected personnel with no action to follow.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. Public comment is not included on Monday’s agenda, but people can share written comments with the board via email at schoolboard@usd497.org. The meeting will also be available via the school district’s YouTube channel.