Benefits contract frustrates teachers

The benefits consultant to the Newport-Mesa School District lost her sole client Tuesday night when the school board voted unanimously to award the contract to a new consulting firm.

The Newport-Mesa school board also heard proposals about the process of naming the new Estancia/Costa Mesa High School stadium at the meeting, while also approving a contract with a new benefits consulting firm AON, despite a number of teachers and staffers speaking out in favor of previous consultant Denise Feldman.

Those in favor of Feldman believed her firm, California Healthcare, had been looking out for their best interests for about six years. They alluded to their “one of a kind in the county” Blue Cross Point of Service health-care plan as reason to keep the previous consultant who negotiates with insurance companies, according to a Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers official.

“We do not pay an extensive amount more [for our plan],” despite its higher benefits, said Kimberely Claytor of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers. She credits that success to California Healthcare.

Board members, despite a number of teachers or district staff speaking at the meeting to table the vote, elected unanimously to give the contract to AON Consulting to be in charge of reviewing and advising employee benefits at a rate of $125,000 annually from March 12, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009, with two one-year options. District representatives said California Healthcare’s final proposal was exceedingly higher than AON’s proposal and California Healthcare’s previous contract. Newport-Mesa was California Healthcare’s only client, officials said.

Elizabeth Novak, assistant superintendent for human resources, said the district went through an extensive process to makes its decision, including a thorough background check and contacting references, among others.

California Healthcare’s contract was not renewed in September 2007 when the board decided it was time to reevaluate the contract and consider new proposals. The benefits committee, which reviews proposals and submits recommendations to the board as well as working in benefits negotiations, evaluated the 10 proposals for contracts it received, narrowed them down and discussions stalled. They then turned their power over to the district, who also evaluated the proposals, narrowed it down and a majority vote was in favor of AON.

“We haven’t been dissatisfied with Denise,” school board President Martha Fluor said. “It’s an issue of dollars and cents.”

Fluor added the committee and district maintain a philosophy to keep current benefits the same.

In other news, an ad hoc committee — charged with the task to review proposals for the stadium naming — recommended a review and change in board policy before moving forward.

The time frame of the review process, policy interpretation and how policy pertains to students are some items the committee hopes to modernize, as the original policy was written in 1988 and hasn’t been reviewed since 1991, Fluor said. At the heart of the issue is naming the stadium after a person. Some community leaders have suggested the policy requires that people be dead two years prior to having a structure named after them, but Fluor said that applies only to memorials, dedications and some others.

The committee will look to change policy to allow for a larger scope of interpretation and a clear answer, Fluor said. The issue was brought up at a committee meeting last Tuesday because the first proposed name involved Jim Scott Sr., a major figure in getting the stadium built who is still alive.

The committee hopes to present the proposal for change in policy at the next board meeting, where they would then continue to have the proposal review process and ask for community input, Fluor said. A decision on the naming is hoped to be proposed to the board sometime in April.

Before business was taken care of, the school board took the time to acknowledge the teachers of the year from the district prior to the meeting.

Niccole Bisceglia of Newport Heights Elementary School and Jacquiline Washington of TeWinkle Middle School took home the district honors, while 25 others were honored with individual school site awards.

“It’s one of those things that is like an out-of-body experience,” Bisceglia said. “It’s nice to be recognized for doing something you love doing.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.