Many Orange County Public Schools employees came to Friday’s meeting fearing they already knew their fate. By the end of the night, the School Board had made it official.
The board voted 5-3 to approve the district’s proposed health insurance and salary recommendations, rejecting a compromise backed by two employee unions and a state-appointed special magistrate.
The decision followed hours of debate over the financial health of the district’s employee insurance trust, the rising cost of coverage and what the changes could mean for the roughly 20,000 employees represented by the Orange Education Support Professionals Association and Classroom Teachers Association.
And in a separate motion, the board unanimously agreed that any unused money from the district’s Disney property tax litigation account should go directly to employees as a supplement.
The vote was more than a budget decision for the employees who spent the meeting describing medical emergencies, rising costs and difficult choices about their health..
“Have mercy on all of us,” said Ron Pollock, president of the Orange Education Support Professionals Association, who turned his frustrations into prayers during the hearing.
Where will the $20 million come from?
The district has said maintaining employees’ current health coverage costs about $20 million a month. That expense was not budgeted beyond December, creating urgency around resolving the impasse and finding a way to pay for the coverage.
To cover December, Superintendent Maria Vazquez said staff were looking at several options, including holding vacant positions, and finding procurement savings. She also expressed confidence that the district would be able to come up with the money.
The question has been a big part of the dispute. District officials have warned that continuing the status quo would put additional pressure on an already strained budget. Board Chair Teresa Jacobs previously framed the trade-off as money that could otherwise go toward employee health insurance, salaries or jobs.
The discussion also turned to money tied to the district’s litigation over Disney property taxes.
OCPS had set aside money to cover potential refunds related to the property tax dispute. As cases are resolved, some of that money could become available if the district does not need the full amount it reserved.
Officials discussed roughly $20 million from settled cases that could potentially become available, with about 80% going to the general fund and 20% to capital expenses. That would leave roughly $16 million for the general fund. More money could become available as additional cases are resolved, but the final amount and timing remain uncertain.
Board members discussed whether some of that money could provide employees with relief from the insurance changes.
Vanos made a motion directing any unused funds in the Disney litigation account to employees as a supplement to their pay. The motion passed unanimously.
The motion did not establish a specific amount or payment date. Vazquez said distribution could potentially happen around January, once the necessary legal and payroll processes are complete.
The money could provide employees with a one-time supplement, but it would not solve the district’s ongoing monthly insurance costs, as district officials and a few of the board members warned.
A dispute over the cost of healthcare
The district and its two employee unions have been at an impasse since April over wages and health insurance for the 2026-27 school year.
The employee benefits trust is “self-insured.” The district and employees contribute money that is used to pay medical claims, and the district is required to maintain reserves equal to 60 days of claims.
OCPS attorney Jeffrey Mendel said the trust ran deficits in nine of the past 10 years. He said the district began drawing down reserves in 2017, and by 2019 the trust did not have enough money to cover claims while maintaining its required stabilization fund.
The district’s contributions to the trust increased from $16.9 million in 2020 to about $86 million in 2026, according to Mendel. He said OCPS has invested roughly $1.75 billion in the trust since 2020.
Even with those contributions, it projects a $145.5 million shortfall for the current fiscal year.
Mendel attributed the financial pressure to rising medical and prescription costs, declining enrollment in traditional public schools and what he said is inadequate state funding.
He said the district faced a choice between cutting staffing, its largest general fund expense, or increasing revenue for health insurance through higher employee contributions and changes to coverage.
“We have chosen the latter,” Mendel said.
The unions have estimated the district’s proposal would shift about $66.6 million in health care costs onto employees.
After negotiations stalled, a state-appointed special magistrate, James W. Mastriani, reviewed the dispute and issued a recommendation Oct. 16. The recommendation offered a compromise on salary increases and insurance costs.
Both unions accepted it. The district rejected it, arguing that the recommendation would leave the insurance trust with a projected $93.7 million shortfall and create an $11.5 million salary budget deficit.
The board was initially scheduled to consider the dispute Oct. 21, but that meeting was postponed after union attorney Mark Richard raised procedural objections and warned the district could face an unfair labor practice charge.
Unions, lawyers challenge the district
“Our educators spend their careers caring for other people's children,” CTA President Clinton McCracken said. “They should not have to sacrifice their own family's healthcare to remain in this profession.”
While the district’s presentation relied heavily on financial projections, historical spending and reserve calculations, union leaders countered with employee testimonies, personal stories and questions about whether the district had exhausted other options.
The unions argued that the district had not looked into other ways to control healthcare costs before shifting more of the expense onto employees. Richard asked whether OCPS had adequately explored competing health care providers and other potential cost-saving measures before settling on its proposal.
“This insurance deal is a laughing stock in the state right now,” Richard said.
He criticized the district for not providing enough information about the alternatives it had considered, arguing that employees and board members should know what other options were available before approving a multimillion-dollar insurance arrangement.
Brevard County School Board Chairman Matt Susin, who attended the hearing and appeared as a witness, raised another possible cost-saving option. He asked whether the district had properly evaluated an alternative for infusion care, which he said could potentially save millions of dollars.
“Maria, you've lost the crew,” Richard said, referring to Superintendent Vazquez. “You're head of a team that nobody wants to play on anymore.”
District officials pushed back, saying they had met with Orlando Health several times to explore adding a second narrow provider network. But they said Cigna informed the district that its contract with AdventHealth prevented another narrow network and warned that pursuing one could put the $10 million reduction from AdventHealth at risk.
Maria Salamanca also countered Richard, and said the two sides had met 20 times during the impasse, but the union had not presented an alternative that could work for the district.
Emotional appeal
For some employees, the debate over premiums and deductibles went beyond the ordinary budget issue.
Samantha Lindstrom, a fifth-year high school math teacher, told board members her daughter is in law school in New York. After her daughter fainted and needed an ambulance, Lindstrom said she was grateful her current insurance plan helped cover the costs.
Under the district’s proposal, she estimated the cost of keeping her daughter insured would increase her paycheck deductions from about $70 to nearly $400 a paycheck.
“I am so grateful that I had the current insurance plan,” Lindstrom said. “Otherwise, I would have had to take on an additional full-time job to afford the hit to my budget.”
Lindstrom said she has updated her resume and applied for jobs both inside and outside education.
Inocencia Ramos Molinari, a 68-year-old district employee who works two jobs and lives with a roommate, told board members she has already faced difficult choices between paying for medication and covering other bills.
“With the new plan, I have to ask, do I have the surgery or just let time take its course?” she said. “I have a beautiful 5-year-old grandson. I want to be here for him.”
Robyn Kaminski, a fifth-grade teacher whose husband has been treated for cancer, also urged the board to consider the consequences of changing coverage. She said care at Moffitt Cancer Center was critical to her husband’s treatment.
“Healthcare isn’t an abstract line item on a budget spreadsheet,” Kaminski said. “It’s a matter of life and death.”
A quick vote, and a final reaction
After hours of testimony and debate, the board moved toward a decision.
The vote came rather quickly. Board member Salamanca had said he needed to leave, prompting a comment during the meeting: “Well, you said you needed to land the plane.”
The board approved the district’s recommendations 5-3. Angie Gallo, Anne Douglas and Stephanie Vanos voted against the plan.
As the decision became clear, one union member jumped to their feet and shouted, “Shame, shame, shame.”
Deborah Newlan, a longtime union teacher nearing retirement, walked out of the building in disbelief.
“Half of me was expecting it,” she said. “I mean everybody felt like they already took their position.”
Although the School Board acts in a quasi-judicial role during an impasse hearing, Newlan said she did not feel board members approached Friday’s decision that way.
“I feel like they were biased, and they're just worried about the money, and not about the teachers and staff,” she said. “It didn't look to me like they knew how to run a meeting, they didn't know whether they were calling the question or voting or anything, and it looked very unprofessional. And this is the outgoing board, so I'm very disappointed.”
It was the last meeting before new board members are sworn in. Salamanca, Chair Teresa Jacobs and Alicia Farrant are leaving the board, making Friday’s vote one of their last decisions.
