Highlights

• LPSS superintendent says insurance company change won't impact teacher costs or coverage
• School board voting Thursday on budget including teacher pay raises and district job cuts
• District exploring new third-party administrator options including Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Healthcare
• Previous pay raises in Lafayette Parish often negated by insurance cost increases
• Superintendent emphasizes "nothing changes" for employees regardless of company chosen

LPSS Superintendent: Insurance Company Change Won't Impact Teacher Costs

School board votes Thursday on budget with pay raises as district explores new third-party administrator options.

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) — While the Lafayette Parish School System is looking at companies to manage employee insurance, the district's superintendent says it won't impact what teachers will be paying for it.

In an interview on Acadiana's Morning News Wednesday morning, Superintendent Francis Touchet said that, whichever company the school board picks during its meeting on Thursday, "It's not changing any cost to any employees."

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"The most important thing that people need to know is this is not going to change anything as far as what the insurance is and what the plan has," Touchet said during the interview. "It's not changing any cost to any employees. It's just to make sure that we have the best TPA as far as the money that we're putting out."

"So it's nothing for our employees to be concerned about," he added.

Thursday Night's Vote

The LPSS school board will be voting on the district's proposed budget, which includes pay raises and bonus incentives for teachers as well as cuts to district office personnel and other items meant to stabilize and balance the budget.

The pay raises and bonus structure have been met with tentative support from LPSS teachers.

READ MORE: LPSS to Vote on $50K Teacher Starting Salary and District Job Cut

But pay raises in Lafayette Parish have for years seemingly been negated by hikes in insurance costs, leaving teachers feeling as though their raises never really came.

Touchet said the current item up for vote is about choosing which third-party administrator the district will use. Currently, the system uses Blue Cross Blue Shield. However, the district is exploring a new deal, with Blue Cross Blue Shield being just one option for the system to go with. One of the others is United Healthcare.

Touchet: "Nothing Changes"

No matter which company the board chooses to be the system's next TPA, Touchet says he doesn't want it to impact the raises coming teachers' way.

"This is truly a third-party administrator that we are having to shop out and see where we can get the biggest bang for our buck as far as this is concerned," Touchet told Acadiana's Morning News. "But nothing changes as far as what the employees are paying, what the coverage is, or anything of that sort."

You can listen to the full interview below.

Other Issues at LPSS

Touchet also told Acadiana's Morning News that the investigation into the forged document scandal is still underway. However, there isn't much in the way of new information yet.

READ MORE: Investigation into LPSS Reveals Forged Contractor Bids

"We are right now continuing with that investigation," Touchet said. "We're probably about four or five weeks out of providing more information to the public."

"Again, my plan is to turn everything over to the legislative auditor and also local law enforcement if there is evidence that needs to be dealt with in reference to those two," he added.

The LPSS investigation is expected to take months as they look through all the bids that have been submitted over the years to see what individuals were involved in the forgeries. While LPSS says they will turn over any findings to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor if its investigation turns up anything, the state licensing board for contractors isn't waiting, saying in its letter to LPSS that "We have notified the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, as is required in these circumstances, of the complaint we investigated and our findings to include the allegations of forged documents."