The Ventura County Grand Jury looked into the handling of the Oxnard Union High School District’s Retiree Health Benefits Trust and determined the district failed to properly document and communicate changes in funding of the trust, a claim the district and school board disagree with.
In November 1999, a trust was formed between the district, the Oxnard Federation of Teachers and the Oxnard Union High School District Retiree Health Benefits Trust. The goal was to reach a point where the total assets of the trust were equal to the projected obligation of the district to fund and provide contractual health care benefits to all eligible retirees and dependents.
When the trust began, the district was obligated to provide lifetime health benefits for eligible retirees. But in 2003, the district and the teachers’ union agreed employees hired after July 1, 2004, would not get lifetime benefits upon retirement and would not be eligible beneficiaries of the trust.
Currently, 58 percent of the teachers in Oxnard Union have a hire date after July 1, 2004, and do not qualify as beneficiaries of the trust.
There have been no district contributions made to the trust since March 2007 other than Medicare Part D reimbursements, according to the grand jury report. The balance of the trust assets as of September 2017 is $58 million, according to the report.
The grand jury concluded the actions of the district, the federation and the trustees were lacking transparency.
“Their failure to properly document and communicate changes in funding of the trust have led to a loss of the beneficiaries’ confidence in the management of the trust,” read the report. “The grand jury recommended the district work with the federation and the trustees to update the trust to reflect agreements that have been made by the district and the federation regarding future funding.”
A response to the report was submitted by Oxnard Union High School District board President Gary Davis earlier this month and disputed some of the claims made by the grand jury.
The district pointed out there is a board for the Retiree Health Benefit Trust that meets about the trust and is compliant with the Brown Act, meaning there are agendas, minutes and public meetings.
The district response said neither the governing board nor the superintendent’s office has received any “communications, inquiries, or requests from anyone regarding an alleged lack of transparency contributing to a loss of confidence in the management of the trust.”
“The district continues to contribute on a pay as you go basis, which in 2017-18, is more than $10 million of the district’s $200 million annual budget to retiree health costs. To be clear all known eligible beneficiaries have received the benefits to which they are contractually entitled,” read the response from the district. “Between 2007 and 2018, the district contributed $74,489,575 in ‘pay as you go’ monies in retire (sic) health and welfare benefits. Additionally, the district made yearly contributions to the Retiree Health Benefit Trust totaling $26,264,042 between 2001 and 2017.”
The response asserted that the actions of the district, the federation and the trust “consistently show a commitment to acting in the best interest of beneficiaries.”
June 24, 2018
Ventura County Star
By Alexa D’Angelo
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