Gilbert Public Schools will be raising its athletic fees for the 2023-24 school year.
The GPS Governing Board approved the increase Feb. 28 from $100 to $125 per sport for high school sports and from $75 to $100 per sport for junior high sports. The vote was 4-0 with President Lori Wood absent.
Superintendent Shane McCord attributed the need for an increase to rising transportation costs when teams travel.
Board Member Chad Thompson said the board did not take making an increase lightly but that the rising costs forced its hand.
Board Member Jill Humpherys noted it had been about 10 years since the district had raised the fee. She urged families for whom this presented a burden to contact their administrators as the district does not want it to preclude students from participating.
Wireless/network refresh
The board approved on a 4-0 vote the purchase of network and wireless equipment and consulting services to refresh the Gilbert Public Schools data network for $9.1 million. The funds for the purchase are coming from bonds approved in 2019.
The implementation will refresh existing wireless access points and network hardware, and provide consulting services for the new equipment's setup.
All but about $400,000 for the network refresh project is eligible for a 50% reimbursement rate under the Federal Communications Commission's Education-Rate program.
Employee benefits
The governing board approved on a 4-0 vote an Employee Benefit Trust recommendation for a 2% medical premium increase for the 2023-24 plan year. This premium increase results in an increase in budgeted expenses to GPS in an amount of about $500,000.
Included in the 2% premium increase is the addition of a "MultiPlan Wrap Network" to all three medical plans. That addition will provide out-of-state coverage for members that reside or travel outside of Arizona and have an urgent need to access health care.
The current GPS health plans explicitly exclude out-of-state coverage except for life-threatening emergencies. Out-of-state medical coverage while traveling will be allowed for sick office visits, urgent care services and emergency services.
The total increase to the medical plan, including the wrap network, is 3.2%, but the health of the Employee Benefit Trust allowed for the district to keep the increase for employees to 2%. The potential drawdown of EBT reserves is approximately $500,000.
There will be no changes to the dental insurance rates for the coming plan year.
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on Twitter. We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
Gilbert Public Schools,
Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board,
Gilbert Public Schools athletic fees,
Gilbert Public Schools wireless network,
Gilbert Public Schools employee benefits,
Shane McCord,
Chad Thompson,
Jill Humpherys
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