School Board Dumps State Benefit Plan

In a move that new board president Christopher Strano and Superintendent Kevin Kitchenman said would save money and increase choices for employees, the West Deptford Board of Education broke from the state-run employee benefit plan to shift to a regional plan under a private carrier at Monday night’s reorganization.

The board voted unanimously to shift to the Southern New Jersey Regional Employee Benefit Fund, a program begun in 1992 to serve local governments and schools in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties, which is run by Conner Strong, the insurance broker with South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross III at its helm.

"It's a very good plan...it increases our buying power and increases our benefits," Strano said. "It's very positive for the district."

Kitchenman said the plan allows more flexibility for employees, as well.

“We weren’t happy at all with the service we were receiving from the state health benefits plan,” he said, noting that the state plan lagged behind when it came to changes to employee status, and couldn’t compete in terms of cost, versus the plan from Conner Strong.

“It’s a significant dollar savings to the district,” he said.

The exact amount the district will save versus the state plan won’t be set until the district signs a contract with Conner Strong, and Kitchenman said meetings with the broker could happen as early as the middle of next week to determine the particulars, which includes exactly what the options in terms of premiums and coverage entail.

Strano said it’ll all be made public after they have a finalized contract in hand.

“Everybody will know, down to the penny,” he said.

Strano added that shifting to Conner Strong’s plan allows the district to more easily plan long-term, as they’ll be able to find out their premiums for future years when developing the annual budget.