GILROY
– One out of every 11 school district employees is getting money
from workers compensation, money Gilroy Unified School District
could have used to hire 40 additional teachers this year.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – One out of every 11 school district employees is getting money from workers compensation, money Gilroy Unified School District could have used to hire 40 additional teachers this year.
In three years, the district’s premium cost increased almost $1 million: From $950,000 in 2001 to $1.81 million for 2004. This year’s cost is $460,000 more than was budgeted, and it’s unclear where that money will come from.
“It’s a system that’s out of control right now,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz said.
The plan is to fix the system by changing the way the district looks at safety, to reduce accidents and put the brakes on its runaway expenses.
The change will come in ways as direct as employing a safety manager, to ways as indirect as a posting of the number of days since the last workplace accident, as laid out in a rough plan by Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Steve Brinkman.
“The culture has to be tweaked if we’re going to eliminate accidents and we’ll all be accountable and responsible for it,” Brinkman said.
Citing statistics from the Santa Clara County Schools’ Insurance Group, the joint powers authority to which GUSD belongs, Brinkman compared the frequency of workers compensation claims in this district to the average rate of the group.
“In every case on this chart, Gilroy’s was higher and that’s not good,” Brinkman told trustees during Thursday night’s board meeting.
For example, Gilroy’s frequency rating for claims last school year was 30 percent higher than that of the joint powers authority average and about 25 percent higher than the state’s rate. There were 78 accidents in 2003. In 2002, there were 82 and in 2001 there were 75.
“Why should Gilroy be so much higher than the rest of the surrounding areas?” Trustee TJ Owens said in an interview Tuesday.
GUSD’s premium cost was $1.81 million this year – $530,000 more than the year before. Only a $70,000 increase was budgeted, which largely comes from the general fund, leaving a $460,000 hole.
“We haven’t really come up with a plan yet, we’ve got some other issues: We’ve got to get this year closed and see how we came out versus what projections are,” Brinkman said Tuesday.
Other costs include administration time, lost productivity, long-term health impacts and loss of employees that could have been hired with those funds, he said.
Calling the current situation an “emergency,” Brinkman presented the board with a tentative 14-point plan to turn the ship around.
Safety would become a priority in the district’s new Accountability Plan, with managers and administrators closely monitoring safety records.
GUSD may hire a safety manager responsible for both worker and student safety.
“Every accident’s got to be investigated – thoroughly – especially those without witnesses,” Brinkman said.
A light duty program should be set up and closely monitored, he said, and the district should work with doctors who support “a timely return to work program.”
The district also is working with teachers’ unions to spend money saved on employee compensation, possibly through a stipend or medical benefits.
Teacher representatives could not be reached by press time.
Trustees were not voting on any definite plan Thursday. Owens said he would support many of the points presented, including hiring a safety manager.
Given the repeated budget reductions that have brought cuts and layoffs, adding a safety manager’s position to the district payroll won’t be the easiest thing to do, Diaz said, but could be justifiable if it would turn things around.
“I would hate to have to bring in a totally new person with all the layoffs and things we’ve had,” Owens said. “I always believe that whenever possible, you bring back the people you’ve laid off.”
Trustee David McRae, a maintenance supervisor at Stanford University, said that often times, people who work in more dangerous situations often are more cognizant of safety. In GUSD, about half of all accidents are suffered by workers in sedentary jobs, including teachers, aids, clerks and district office employees.
“What I’m not seeing on this list of 14 that I think needs to be here is, define what safety training is required and then monitor that that training takes place,” McRae said.
From his more than 20 years’ experience in private business, Brinkman said he thinks a marked change can happen in one year. It could require that the district pull out of its insurance group.
“If you develop a strong safety culture, and you make some tremendous gains, it’s going to take quite a long time to change things,” Brinkman said.
