However, those retiring after July 1 likely won't get the same supplements.
The board voted 3-2, with board members Brian Moriarty and Jennifer Russell opposed, to eliminate the health insurance subsidies for those over 65 who retire after July 1.
Eliminating health insurance supplements for those over 65 years old would save the district about $905,727, district staff told the School Board. None of the other nearby districts offer similar insurance supplements, said Don Calderone, director of risk management and employee benefits for the district.
Veteran teachers, concerned the supplements would be unavailable when they retire before age 65, told the board the district was going back on promises made to teachers who stayed in the district until retirement.
"Today we are being treated as nothing more than numbers on a spreadsheet," said marketing teacher Stephanie Davis Chang. "If this attack on our livelihood continues, then things are going to change. Good teachers will leave."
Teachers were promised they would receive health insurance supplements long after they retired, as a way of keeping teachers in the district. Those promises are about to be broken, said Kelly Coleman, a Hidden Oaks Middle School civics teacher with 24 years of experience. She planned to retire in seven years when she reached 30 years.
Changing the policy now "would be undermining the hard work and loyalty of dedicated teachers," said Coleman, who, at age 50, is too young to enter the state's retirement program. Coleman stayed, banking on having health insurance when she retired at 57 until she was old enough for Medicare, she said. "This was a promise that kept me here. This and only this."
Coleman told the board she could make more money in other districts.
"Why did we stay only for you to take the promise away," she said.
Colleen Wixon is the education reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers. She covers school districts in Martin, Indian River and St. Lucie counties.
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/education/martin-county-schools/2025/02/18/teachers-worried-insurance-subsidies-will-be-unavailable-when-they-retire/78656873007/
