Leading Schools a Delicate Balance Returned Schenck Guns Were Legal
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
An INDEPENDENT JOURNAL of NEWS and OPINION YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS SI NCE 1880 YELLOW SPRINGS, OHIO T HURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2013 VO LUME 134, NUMBER 40 PRICE: $1.50 A local look at Obamacare By Megan Bachman whichever is higher, if he doesn’t purchase insurance for 2014. Local contractor Chris Glaser is just the For some villagers who have been unable type of person that the Affordable Care Act to afford or qualify for insurance, the new was designed to help. health insurance plans in the exchange as Glaser, a 60-year-old self-employed con- part of the Affordable Care Act are seen struction worker, hasn’t been able to �nd as a blessing. Others taking a wait-and- a more affordable health plan because of see approach to the new health insurance chronic neck and back injuries from 40 options are reluctant to drop their current years on the job that insurance companies plans, or would prefer to stay uninsured. deemed a “pre-existing condition.” As the costs of his current Anthem Blue Cross New health plans: what to expect plan grew in recent years — to $500 per Those who are not already covered by month — he opted for less coverage to their employer, Medicare or Medicaid, can keep it affordable. Now it only covers 60 now enroll in a new plan in the exchange percent of medical costs after a $10,000 for coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2014. In lieu deductible. of a state-run exchange, Ohioans can shop “The scenario for the past �ve years at the federal website www.healthcare.gov. was it would go up and I would drop my Those who are not currently insured coverage so I could afford it,” Glaser said. must purchase insurance by March 31, “It feels like I’m pumping money out for 2014 or face penalties that grow to $695 per nothing. I keep thinking, ‘What am I doing year or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is this for?’” higher, by 2016. By comparison, the Con- But as a part of President Barack Obama’s gressional Budget Of�ce estimates that by signature healthcare law, insurance compa- 2016 the least expensive health insurance nies can no longer deny coverage or charge plans in the marketplace will cost about more because of a pre-existing condition, $4,500 to $5,000 per person and $12,000 to a situation affecting more than �ve million $12,500 per family per year. Ohioans. And on Tuesday, Oct. 1, a newly- In Greene County, six insurance com- created healthcare marketplace opened panies are offering 39 plans in a variety of with a slew of new private health plans for price ranges, from the bronze plans, which PHOTO BY SUZANNE SZEMPRUCH Glaser to chose from, along with govern- have a low monthly cost but high deduct- State of the Little Art ment subsidies to make them affordable. ible and co-pays, to mid-range silver plans From his initial research, Glaser could save and high-end gold and platinum plans, About 1,500 people toured the newly renovated and reopened Little Art Theatre last Saturday and enjoyed a daylong cel- a lot of money. which are more expensive upfront but ebration that included street dancing, juggling, food trucks, cartoons and trailers in the theater, and lots of rubbing elbows with “I think I’ll be able to get twice the cover- cover more healthcare services with fewer friends. The theater had been closed for six months for extensive renovations, funded by $475,000 raised from grants and Little age for half the price,” he said. out-of-pocket expenses when getting care. Art supporters. Shown above, Tony the juggler charmed an audience of small and big kids alike. See more photos of the Little Fifty-nine-year-old Leslie Lippert, who is In addition, those under 30 years of age or Art extravaganza on page 9. currently unemployed, has been pleased with very low income can qualify for “cata- with her individual insurance plan through strophic” plans. Medical Mutual. In what some suspect is For many, government subsidies will related to the overhaul of the healthcare defray the monthly cost of a premium. system, her rate just jumped this year by Those who make up to 400 percent of the Leading schools a delicate balance 33 percent, to $400 per month. Though it’s federal poverty level, or up to $45,960 for a stretch for Lippert to afford the plan, she an individual and $94,200 for a family of By Lauren Heaton Yellow Springs school board bylaws and policy and don’t like the way it’s done? �nds the new plans being offered on the four, qualify for tax credits. Many villag- policies (established in accordance with Well, my only responsibility is to make federal health exchange have less coverage ers will likely qualify for such tax credits Yellow Springs has a long history of the Ohio Revised Code), the �ve-member sure it gets done,” he said. than she wants. —the median household income in Yellow stable school district leaders. With the elected school board establishes policies On the other hand, administrators have “What I have found is, there is no plan Springs was $59,537 in 2010. exception of one two-year glitch, since the for the superintendent to administer. The a responsibility to keep the board informed offered like my plan,” Lippert said. “My According to a report from the Depart- early 1980s village school superintendents board also hires and �res the superinten- of what’s going on in the schools and to plan, once I meet my deductible, is 100 ment of Health and Human Services, the have maintained an average tenure of 10 dent and the treasurer and is the body provide monthly reports on the bigger, percent covered.” lowest cost plan in Ohio for a 27-year-old years — notable relative to the national legally responsible for the entire district’s critical issues, such as employee contracts Local resident Mark DeLozier, who has who makes $25,000 per year is $177 per average superintendent tenure of 3–6 welfare. or new construction, Caster said. When several part-time jobs, including as a piano month and just $110 per month after tax years, according to the School Superinten- According to the same internal policies, board members don’t agree on how much tuner, is currently uninsured. DeLozier credits. A mid-range premium for a family dent’s Association. the superintendent is the chief executive information they need, the board as a said he “isn’t too happy” about having to of four earning $50,000 in income would And according to former Superintendent officer of the district and the primary whole “has an obligation to let the super- purchase health insurance or pay a �ne. cost $768. After tax credits, the plan would Tony Armocida last week, his tenure from professional advisor to the board. He or Because of the so-called “individual man- cost $282. Under the new healthcare law, 1997 to 2007 was successful enough to she is responsible for the development, CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 date,” DeLozier could face a penalty of warrant his return in 2010 as a temporary supervision, and operation of the school $95 per year or 1 percent of his income, CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 replacement after he had already retired. program and facilities. Within that charge, “Mostly in Yellow Springs people were the superintendent develops the curricu- complimentary,” he said. “That’s why I lum, establishes and maintains a written stayed so long.” educational plan consistent with the goals Returned Schenck guns were legal Stability in school leadership has been adopted by the board, establishes (with a good thing, according to local resident the treasurer) a budget and ensures opera- By Diane Chiddister 10 ri�es and 25 boxes of ammuniton and no legal reason to hold them, according Wally Sikes, who has been engaged with tions adhere to it, and manages all school magazines, according to police records.) to a local attorney who asked to remain the local schools since the 1950s and is personnel. Paul E. Schenck had a lot of guns. He However, a year later the guns were anonymous. The charges against Schenck a retired consultant in public and private To put it simply, according to Caster of also had a history of mental health issues returned to the Schenck family. After this had been dismissed, the guns were not evi- organizational development. However, the OSBA, “The board decides the what, and alcohol abuse. The mix of these factors summer’s shootout, many villagers asked, dence of a crime and there is no law in Ohio maintaining a leadership team that always and the administration decides on the how contributed to the July 31 shootout at his why were the guns returned? Why was that prevents someone, even someone with agrees is seldom possible, and the local ... Of course when you throw in the human home on High Street that involved 63 police a man with several known risk factors a history of mental health issues and alco- schools struggle at times to balance the factor it gets a little complicated.” of�cers and several SWAT teams. The inci- allowed to have an arsenal in his home? hol abuse, from having a stockpile of guns. shared authority granted by the state to Another way to look at the roles is to dent ended with Schenck’s death. The answers to these questions became “The Court �nds the defendant has suc- both the local school board and the school view the superintendent as the educational But this wasn’t the �rst time that guns, more clear last Friday when sealed records cessfully completed Intervention in Lieu of administration.