School Board Approves $10,000.00 Life Insurance Policy For Employees??????
At last night’s School Board Meeting and after almost a year of preparation and procrastination, the School Board approved the bids for $10,000.00 in life insurance for each school employee. On the surface this seems like a very generous and worthwhile benefit but, as is often the case in Giles County, very little is as it seems.
The request by the Board was for insurance carriers to provide bids to supply $10,000.00 in life insurance coverage. The bids after much wrangling and attempts to get it right were finally opened a week ago and discussed. Last night was the official approval with a company from Alabama, getting the bid having beat out a local carrier by less than $300.00.
Now as Paul Harvey says here’s “the rest of the story”. The Alabama agent “AXA” provides a declining policy which means when a person reaches a certain age the amount of payout goes down. So if you happen to be seventy years old or older and happen to die you only get $5,000.00 not $10,000.00. The Board has had this same type of declining insurance policy for employees for a number of years.
The local agent had offered a non-declining policy which means as long as the policy is in effect regardless of your age if you die you get the full $10,000.00.
Now to make the situation even more interesting in the past when a TEACHER died if they had reached the age where the policy paid less than $10,000.00 the school system would take money from the general funds and make up the difference. However if a BUSDRIVER or NON-TEACHER died and they had reached the age where the policy paid less than $10,000.00 they were just out of luck. In simplest terms if a seventy year old teacher died they got $10,000.00 but if anyone else at age seventy, with the same exact policy, died they got only $5,000.00.
Does this seem fair and equable to have and/or continue such a policy? Would it not have been much simpler to accept the insurance with a non declining payout instead of committing to take money out of general school funds and make up the difference? As has been stated in response to the question, “what happens if four people die and the school system has to pay out $20,000.00 where does the money come from? “We’ll have to go to the commission and ask for more funds.”
The request by the Board was for insurance carriers to provide bids to supply $10,000.00 in life insurance coverage. The bids after much wrangling and attempts to get it right were finally opened a week ago and discussed. Last night was the official approval with a company from Alabama, getting the bid having beat out a local carrier by less than $300.00.
Now as Paul Harvey says here’s “the rest of the story”. The Alabama agent “AXA” provides a declining policy which means when a person reaches a certain age the amount of payout goes down. So if you happen to be seventy years old or older and happen to die you only get $5,000.00 not $10,000.00. The Board has had this same type of declining insurance policy for employees for a number of years.
The local agent had offered a non-declining policy which means as long as the policy is in effect regardless of your age if you die you get the full $10,000.00.
Now to make the situation even more interesting in the past when a TEACHER died if they had reached the age where the policy paid less than $10,000.00 the school system would take money from the general funds and make up the difference. However if a BUSDRIVER or NON-TEACHER died and they had reached the age where the policy paid less than $10,000.00 they were just out of luck. In simplest terms if a seventy year old teacher died they got $10,000.00 but if anyone else at age seventy, with the same exact policy, died they got only $5,000.00.
Does this seem fair and equable to have and/or continue such a policy? Would it not have been much simpler to accept the insurance with a non declining payout instead of committing to take money out of general school funds and make up the difference? As has been stated in response to the question, “what happens if four people die and the school system has to pay out $20,000.00 where does the money come from? “We’ll have to go to the commission and ask for more funds.”
posted by Allen Barrett | 9:35 AM
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