School Board Dems: Use Caution in Account Shift Plan

The Trumbull Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday ask the Town Council not to shift school system energy, utilities and health-insurance accounts to the town’s control until a thorough bipartisan analysis can be conducted.

The accounts, which amount to more than $14 million out of the school board’s total budget of more than $80 million, cover oil, gas, water and electrical services, plus health insurance for all Board of Education employees—more than 800 people.

The school board, led by member Lisa Labella, a Democrat, argued that the decision is enormous—not just a massive shift of money but also one that may or may not produce lower health-insurance premiums and one that school system bargaining units may well dispute. 

Specifically, Labella motioned that Schools Superintendent Ralph Iassogna work with the town and the first selectman to move forward in participating with a multi-town consortium on the issue of health insurance. That motion passed unanimously. 

A second motion asked the Board of Finance and Town Council to join the Board of Education in creating a joint committee comprised of two members from each board (one from each political party) plus the town finance director and school system business administrator to research various models involving town control of school system employees’ health insurance and create recommendations for review by each respective board. This motion also passed unanimously. 

“My purpose in making the motion is that there are many ramifications of making a decision of this magnitude, and all involved should be sure we are creating a model that provides opportunities for the greatest savings with the least exposure to the employees who will be affected by the decisions,” Labella said. “We need to be sure that we’re not making this shift for any reasons other than that. It can’t be about unfounded suspicions, it can’t be about presumed savings, and it can’t be about punishing the Board of Education.”