Published: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 1:08 AM CDT

The Yankton School Board on Monday approved substantial changes to the YSD self-funded insurance policy for employees.

The board also approved a new banking contract that will run for the next three years.

The district will move from the First Administrators insurance plan to Wellmark. YSD will also change over from the two-tier system they are currently operating under to a four-tier model.

The current two-tier system covers employees and their families, while the new system will allow for more flexibility. The four-tier model has an option to cover a single policy member, employee and spouse, employee and child(ren) and a family option.

Under the new four-tier structure, some families would have savings, but others could end up paying more out of pocket if they must have a hospital visit.

The four-tier model will take effect on Oct. 1, with the full move over to Wellmark coming on Jan. 1.

“I’m comfortable with the potential trade-offs on the four-tier system,” said Chris Specht, YSD board president. “There will be some employees in the YSD that will save money on the new system.”

Business Manager Jason Bietz added that even though the changes should save the district a significant amount of money, they are ultimately not the savior to the sizable deficit the district faces.

In addition to making changes to the health care option for employees, the board had been considering changing banking providers as well.

The district had asked local banks for requests for proposals earlier this summer, with four local institutions responding. Two of the proposals called for earnings credits in lieu of interest credit posted to the bank account, which is intended to offset potential fee expenses.

After analyzing each proposal, the district decided to use First Dakota National Bank as its bank for the next three years. First Dakota had previously been the district’s bank, with its contract recently expiring.

“First Dakota has been a good partner with YSD for the past few years,” Bietz said.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Gertsema commended Bietz for the work he did with banks in the area and added that he dedicated a substantial amount of time with the process.

Also on Monday Kathy Wagner, Director of Student Services at YSD,  discussed school district achievement test results and annual yearly progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Under the Dakota STEP test in 2012, 81 percent of YSD students were at the proficient or advanced levels in reading. This compares to a South Dakota average of 73 percent. In addition, 83 percent of students in YSD were proficient or advanced in math, compared to the state average of 74 percent.

The state did not calculate the AYP designations for “schools of improvement” because the state is moving towards new standards that will change the designations.

In addition to the current NCLB standard of student achievement, the new standards will also include academic growth and completion rate for the high school, attendance and college and career readiness, school climate and how effective school principals and teachers are.

“Based on our test scores, I really don’t believe there are many areas of concern,” Wagner said.

Notable other business included authorizing a full-time speech therapist position and hiring a paraprofessional at Lincoln School for the 2012-13 school year to help reduce class sizes.

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