November 2003

VOL. 14 NO. 4

As has been reported in previous Unifiers, the CCASAPE Representative Council is in the process of examining a new 401A retirement plan that will allow participating administrators to shelter up to $40,000 of terminal vacation pay. Participation in the plan will allow administrators to defer paying taxes on the terminal vacation check and to permanently avoid the payment of Medicare taxes on the vacation payoff.

Working with the District and the District consultant, Joe Rawlins, a Request for Proposal was developed and submitted to various potential providers for the new plan. On Wednesday, November 19, 2003, a preliminary review was conducted of plans submitted by three vendors.

The CCASAPE Representative Council will soon vote on whether to participate in the 401A plan. Participation in the plan will require mandatory participation by all eligible administrators. Mandatory participation means that when administrators retire, they will no longer receive their vacation payoff as part of their final paycheck. Instead, the vacation payoff will be directly placed in the 401A account, deferring the payment of income taxes and forever avoiding the payment of the Medicare tax. The crucial issues for determining whether CCASAPE will vote to participate center around the length of time it will take to retrieve the vacation payoff from the account in the event that the administrator does not want to shelter the money and whether the vacation payoff can still be used to purchase retirement credit from PERS.

It is anticipated that plan reviews will soon be completed and a final decision will be made sometime after January 1, 2004. If you have questions or concerns regarding participation in the 401A retirement plan, please contact Stephen Augspurger at the CCASAPE office or any member of the Representative Council at your earliest convenience.CCASAPE Constitution. The Constitution can be viewed in its entirety on the CCASAPE web site at www.CCASAPE.net.

On December 16, 2003, the Reclassification Committee will meet with Bill Ewing, the consultant hired to assist with the initial phase of the reclassification project, to review input received from administrators regarding reclassification. Input was received from over 200 administrators who attended the 7 general membership meetings held in the fall. Input was also received from phone calls, conversations, and correspondence sent to the CCASAPE office by administrators. This input will be reviewed in detail at the December meeting and recommendations will be developed which will be presented to the CCASAPE Representative Council and to the District.

Click here to download the new CCASAPE Health Premiums

Once each year, during the months of October and November, the District holds an open enrollment period. This is the time for you to review your benefit election to ensure that it meets the needs of you and your family. During the open enrollment period, you will have the opportunity to make the following changes to your benefit election:

• You can add eligible dependents.
• You can drop covered dependents.
• You can join the CCASAPE / CCSD Health Insurance Plan if you are currently an active administrative employee and receiving your health insurance from CCEA, ESEA, or from any other provider.

The changes will be effective on January 1, 2004. The Benefits Office at 799-5418 will assist you with these changes. If you have questions or require additional information regarding your health benefits, please call the CCASAPE office at 796-9602.

1. The revenue, expenditures, and balances within the CCASAPE Association and Trust Fund Accounts;

2. A review of the status of:

A. Dental and Life Insurance Contracts – The status of contract negotiations for dental and life insurance was outlined;

B. Health Insurance Survey - The health insurance survey was mailed to administrators and retirees on November 1, 2003, with a requested return date of November 15, 2003. As of November 15, 2003, approximately 400 surveys have been returned to the CCASAPE office. Separate surveys were mailed to retirees, Medicare eligible participants, and CCASAPE actives. Completed surveys will be analyzed and the results will be used to identify potential plan design changes;

C. Reclassification _ A summary of the input collected from the general membership meetings, email correspondence, and conversations with administrators was provided. The Reclassification Committee will meet on December 16, 2003, to review the input and identify recommendations. Bill Ewing, the consultant who worked with the committee in developing the initial reclassification process, has agreed to work with the committee on December 16, 2003. Mr. Ewing's fee for the day is $1200 and will be evenly split between CCASAPE and the District. The Representative Council authorized the payment of $600.00 for Mr. Ewing;

D. 401A Retirement Plan – This plan will allow eligible administrators to shelter up to $40,000 of vacation pay at the time of retirement or resignation from the District, and will allow administrators appointed since 1986 to avoid paying Medicare tax on their vacation payoff. Three vendors have responded to the Request for Proposal. A meeting has been scheduled for November 19, 2003, for the District, ESEA, and CCASAPE to review the proposals. Once the proposals are reviewed, a final meeting will be scheduled to review the selected plan, ask questions of the vendor, and make a final decision on whether administrators will participate in the 401A retirement plan. A decision by the Representative Council to participate in the plan will require mandatory participation by all eligible administrators;

E. CCASAPE Retreat – Arrangements for the retreat, scheduled at the CasaBlanca Hotel in Mesquite for February 5 and 6, were outlined. A tentative agenda for the retreat will be provided at the December Representative Council meeting;

F. Assembly Bill 286 – An update of the status of this bill, passed by the 2003 Nevada Legislature, was provided. To date, the requested attorney general’s opinion has not been received. CCASAPE was opposed to this bill during the legislative session. CCASAPE believes this bill is discriminatory in that it provides a health insurance subsidy to administrator retirees who remain in the state health insurance plan, while making no provision for retirees who receive their insurance from providers other than the State of Nevada. Additionally, the bill will be very expensive for the District. First year costs will be approximately $2,000,000 and will increase in each subsequent year. This money will come directly from the general fund unless other sources are identified and will reduce the money available for educational expenses and employee benefits. Potential CCASAPE actions regarding AB286 were reviewed. No action will be taken until the attorney general's opinion is rendered or there is activity that violates CCASAPE member rights; and

G. October 14, 2003, Administrators’ Advisory Council Meeting – Agenda items and discussion points for the October 14 advisory meeting were reviewed;

3. New Business:

A. Unused Sick Leave / Retiree Medical Assistance Projected Payments – Projected payouts for unused sick leave and retiree medical assistance were provided and approved;

B. Administrator Discipline / Evaluation _ Stephen reviewed an erroneous opinion expressed by one of the District's attorneys at an administrator evaluation workshop that if an administrator receives an admonition at any time in the year, that it MUST result in an unsatisfactory evaluation at the end of the year. CCASAPE does not agree with this opinion. Dr. Orci also concurred that the attorney’s opinion is not correct. He will notify the attorneys that an admonition does not automatically result in an unsatisfactory evaluation;

C. Administrators’ Advisory Council Meeting Agenda items for the December 10, 2003, meeting were identified;

D. Lawsuit _ Stephen provided an update on the status of a lawsuit filed by a former administrator against CCASAPE. CCASAPE was recently awarded attorney's fees and costs related to this case and has taken the necessary steps to collect this judgment;

E. School Administrators’ Welfare Trust _ Stephen outlined the changes made to the trust document by attorney Doug Edwards. Changes were primarily editorial and were primarily related to the recent name change for CCASAPE; and

F. 2003-2007 Negotiated Agreement _ Final editing and typing of the 2003-2007 Agreement between the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-technical Employees and the Clark County School District have been completed. The new agreement will soon be posted on the CCASAPE web site at www.ccasa.net. Additionally, paper copies will be provided to all administrators;

4. Committee Reports:

A. CCAESP – Sue Steaffens, President, reported fall luncheons will be scheduled to foster communication with building principals. Sue reaffirmed that the focus for CCAESP continues to be placing an elementary assistant principal in every elementary school and securing additional elementary counselor and ECS positions;

B. CCASSP – Barbie Holmes, speaking for Linda Archambault, President, outlined the technology in-services being sponsored by CCASSP; and

C. Legal Committee – Joe Murphy, Legal Committee Chairperson, reported that there was no activity;

5. Executive Director’s Report - Stephen provided a review of the accountant's report, the membership report, and the various CCASAPE activities and the types of assistance provided to CCASAPE members.

After many months of negotiations, CCASAPE has entered into a new three-year agreement with Humana Dental. Humana will replace Delta Dental as the provider of dental services. The new plan with Humana will become effective January 1, 2004, and will provide essentially the same level of coverage as the Delta Dental Plan which is currently in place. Since the inception of the current comprehensive health benefits plan in January 1999, Delta Dental has been the provider of dental services. However, during the last two contract negotiations with Delta Dental, the company has been unwilling to provide more than a one-year contract. This is unacceptable to CCASAPE. Proposed rates by Delta were also significantly higher than those provided by Humana Dental.

The new dental plan will provide essentially the same level of coverage as the current plan with Delta Dental. The new rates will require a small increase in monthly premiums but the new contract will also include a two-year rate guarantee with a cap guaranteed for the third year of the contract. Rates for the employee only will increase by $3.65 per month. The employee and spouse will increase by $7.06 per month, the employee and children will increase by $6.58 per month, and family rates will increase by $9.94 per month.

Additionally, negotiations for the $50,000 life insurance policy provided as part of the health insurance plan have been completed. The new rates will result in a $.50 per month decrease for all administrators. Negotiations for the replacement of the $100,000 Hartford life insurance policy have also been completed with the current rate being guaranteed for two years. The new provider for each of these life insurance policies will be the Standard Insurance Company. The new rates for both life insurance policies will become effective on January 1, 2004. The $32 negotiated for health insurance for 2003-2004 will cover the increase in premiums for all administrators and will also cover a portion of the premiums for dependents. Administrators began receiving this $32 increase on the October 10 paycheck.

The same rate changes described within the article for active administrators will apply to retirees as well.

Please be reminded that any eligible administrator or professional-technical employee planning to retire on or before June 30, 2004, must schedule a meeting with the CCASAPE staff and complete the forms to participate in the retiree unused sick leave payout, retiree health insurance payout, and retiree life insurance / retiree long term care programs. THESE FORMS MUST BE COMPLETED AND FILED WITH THE CCASAPE OFFICE PRIOR TO MAY 1, 2004, IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE JUNE 2004 PAYOUT. Please call the CCASAPE office at 796-9602 if you have any questions.

Article 28 of the negotiated agreement between the Clark County School District and the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-technical Employees entitles an administrator who is about to undergo an investigatory interview the right to an association representative. CCASAPE has always recommended that administrators not participate in investigatory interviews without the presence of a CCASAPE representative. Unfortunately, there continue to be instances of administrators being properly noticed of an investigatory interview, but not requesting the assistance and participation of a CCASAPE representative. CCASAPE strongly reminds all administrators of the importance of requesting CCASAPE's assistance for investigatory interviews and all other personnel issues.

As you know, the Clark County School District requires that all professional organizations communicate with their members through the U.S. Postal Service rather than the CCSD mail. In order for CCASAPE to ensure that you receive its communications, it is critical that we be notified when you have a change of address. If you have moved recently, please call Debbie or Sadie in the CCASAPE office (796-9602) and provide your new address. The District should also be notified since we purchase mailing labels from the District for our large group mailings.