Santa Maria Educators Union Pushes Back Against Hike In Insurance Premiums

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - Educators spoke up against insurance premium increases at last night’s Santa Maria-Bonita School District board meeting.

Members of the Santa Maria Elementary Education Association (SMEEA) appeared in solidarity to support their representatives who spoke at the meeting.

Union members are facing an increase in out-of-pocket health insurance expenses for teachers’ and classified employees’—by more than 14-percent.

A union representative says the educators who work directly with students should get a cost of living wage increase in the new budget proposal, before hiking insurance premiums.

“It's really important that people in the community reach out to our school board members and to our district administrators and urge them to create a budget that puts students needs first, by prioritizing the staff that work for Santa Maria Bonita School District,” says Jennifer Danowitz, spokesperson for SMEEA. “If the district decides that they want to prioritize the staff, we can prioritize the staff.”

The proposed budget will be voted on at the next district board meeting on June 24th.

A district spokesperson notes that the budget proposal is separate from the health premiums.

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