Updated at 3:30 p.m. with information from Superintendent Meria Carstarphen, Education Austin President Ken Zarifis and Michael Houser, AISD's chief human capital officer, who answered questions Aug. 28 about the qualifying individual benefits.
Starting in October, Austin ISD will offer enrollment for employee insurance benefits in the 2013–14 school year to "qualifying individuals"—a legal term with criteria that apply to domestic partners including same-sex couples—following the board of trustees' unanimous approval Aug. 27 of its fiscal year 2014 budget and a consultation agreement with Education Austin, the teachers union for AISD.
Education Austin President Ken Zarifis explained the change has been in the works for about a year. The union submitted a consultation proposal regarding the insurance coverage and plans to meet monthly with AISD to develop policies, he said.
"I think insurance for all of our families in AISD is of the utmost importance," he said, explaining the organization's priority, regardless of employees' sexual orientation, is to keep all families healthy so that children can stay in school and have opportunities to learn.
Discussion
Before trustees voted, board President Vincent Torres said he would support extending insurance benefits to same-sex partners, but the board has not received much public feedback on the issue.
"If I know the Austin environment, they're going to encourage us to try to be fair to all our employees. And I think there will be some folks that may be against it, but at this point in time I would have to say I don't think word's gotten out enough to where people know that we're doing it, and so we haven't really had a lot of reaction to it yet," he said.
There was not a discussion on the dais about the benefits. Trustee Robert Schneider asked to pull item 15.2—which dealt with employee compensation—from the consent agenda for a separate vote. When it came time to address that item, he said he meant to pull item 15.3—the item dealing with extending insurance benefits—because he planned to abstain from the vote.
"My concern is just where this leaves the district with the possibility of legal vulnerabilities. ... I do believe that it may leave us in a position where people that would wish to make a point will have a target to aim at, and that is my concern with this issue," he said, noting he did not oppose the motion.
Meghan Buchanan, an Eastside Memorial High School teacher, thanked AISD for its work to extend the benefits to its regular and full-time employees.
"My family is about to grow, and we've been trying to figure out how to pay for two kids in day care. One option we weren't able to consider was to have my wife stay home with the kids. [But] now that she qualifies for my insurance, we're able to consider more options to take care of our family and to better plan for our future."
Trustee Jayme Mathias said that during the past nine months he has served on the board, he has heard from people throughout AISD about issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, community.
"I am extremely proud of our district's administration for having gotten us to this point of recognizing on this historic day, on which we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the march on ... Washington, [D.C.], how it is that the fight for equality goes on and is bringing Austin one step closer to the 21st century," he said.
He said that the change is "not a same-sex benefit," but instead a move that will offer benefits to staff in varying life situations.
Qualifications, cost and challenges
Michael Houser, AISD's chief human capital officer, explained the criteria indicate a qualifying individual must:
1) have lived in the same household with the AISD employee for one year
2) not be a renter, boarder, tenant or employee of the AISD employee
3) be at least 18 years old
4) not be related to the AISD employee
5) be directly dependent upon, or interdependent with, the AISD employee
Children of a qualifying individual may also be eligible for coverage, according to AISD. Enrollment lasts from Oct. 1–31, and the benefits go into effect Dec. 1. Earlier this year, the district had decided it planned to offer domestic partners coverage, he noted.
In late April, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said a school district would violate state law if its health plan recognized a legal status that is similar to marriage. Based on advice from legal counsel, AISD officials decided to maintain the district's current benefits practice until related U.S. Supreme Court rulings were issued and the Texas Legislative session ended, according to a letter to the district from Houser.
"We absolutely took our time to make sure that we ended up in the right spot that would ensure that we were respecting the state of Texas while also respecting our families and our employees," Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said, noting the district also prepared for the possibility of a lawsuit related to the benefits change.
Carstarphen said the district estimates the benefits will cost about $500,000 during the first year of implementation for the 150–200 individuals it anticipates could sign up for coverage.
"There will be many different, diverse family units that will look at the criteria to see if their life and their household really does match up to those criteria," Carstarphen said.
