Representatives of the Texas AFT delivered a 691-signature health plan petition to the Katy ISD board during the public comments segment of the July 20 work study board meeting. Texas AFT is a union of 66,000 pre-K-12 and higher education employees

Portions of the public comments were reprinted in a July 20 Facebook message posted by Sarah Rivlin in a local Facebook group.

“We have some suggestions on how the plan can be improved, which we will also email to you,” said Katy ISD and Texas AFT member Allison Knight during the board meeting’s public comments segment. “We partnered with a KISD parent and community volunteer who specializes in benefits and compensation design and has 29 years of benefits, compensation and Human Resources experience. This parent has stated that switching to TRS is not the answer and would significantly increase premiums. Instead, this parent suggested the following, which we ask that you take into consideration:

1. It is possible that the Requests for Proposals for the health plans were written too narrowly, excluding possible vendors which may have been able to provide cheaper and better options. Can this be remedied?

2. Memorial Hermann, though conveniently located, is rarely the cheapest option. Can this be looked into?

3. Are there better, cheaper pharmacy options, including mail order?

4. Having three plan options may be increasing our expenses. Should we move to two health plan options to increase the number of people in the risk pool?

5. Could the district look into expanding a system of incentives to encourage healthy behavior and preventative care to potentially reduce the risk for common health complications? One educator told us that Alief ISD has a wonderful system of incentives that has brought the community together around improving their health. For example, everyone was given a pedometer, and when they reached a certain number of steps, they could get a gift card.”


Knight’s comments were immediately followed by comments from another KISD teacher who described her struggles with the district’s health plan during her fight against breast cancer.

Board members cannot respond to public comments presented during a board meeting.