Claudette Riley

CRILEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

With virtually no fanfare, the Springfield school board voted 7-0 Tuesday to extend health benefits to married same-sex couples.

The amendment, to the district's health plan, changes the definition of "spouse" to include same-sex couples married in any state that legally recognizes same-sex marriages.

The change starts Dec. 1, giving current employees time to add their same-sex spouses to enroll in benefits for next year.

Springfield Public Schools is the city's third-largest employer with nearly 4,000 people on the payroll and a self-insured health plan that covers just over 6,000 people.

It is unclear how many additional people will be sign up following the change but the district is not expected to incur any extra costs upfront because employees must pay the premiums to cover spouses, same-sex or opposite-sex.

"That is the direction things are moving and I believe it's the right thing to do," said board member Annie Busch. "So I don't have any trouble supporting it."

No opposition was expressed during the short, eight-minute discussion leading to a unanimous vote. The only pause was from board member Gerry Lee, who wanted to make sure the board was on solid legal footing before it moved forward.

"I'm just a little bit concerned that we're kind of treading on thin ice legally from the standpoint that we don't have any guidance from the courts and the state," Lee said. "And I'm real concerned that we may be exceeding our bounds as a board."

Others sought to reassure Lee, pointing out that a growing number of other large employers and public entities were making similar amendments to health plan. Among those, Missouri State University and Drury University.

At the start of the meeting, Springfield resident Dan Cummings — who identified himself as an educator but didn't say where he taught — expressed concern about changing the term "spouse."

"In my teaching career, I always taught my students, and was taught, that a term is defined and that's what it is. Now we have people that are redefining terms that have been held for years and years," he said.

Cummings said the board is "redefining a term that has been held for 2,000 years, maybe more, and we're just expected to just bow to that, it seems like, in terms of it being forced upon us."

He urged the board to slow down and not act too quickly until some of the court cases and legal challenges play out.

Chief Human Resources Officer Parker McKenna said the expansion is part of an ongoing effort to recruit and retain top teachers and other staff.

"Our goal with the health plan is to be competitive and to provide a benefits package that meets the needs of all of the participants," he said.

The change comes shortly after a Missouri court ruling struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban, spurring St. Louis County and Jackson County to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

McKenna said there have been repeated requests from employees to make this change in recent years. He added that changing the definition of "spouse" on health coverage will spur the district to change it on other employment policies such as sick days and family medical leave.

The district pays the full, $460 monthly health premium for all enrolled employees but they must pay the monthly premiums to cover spouses and dependent children.

"The premium associated with the cost of that same-sex spouses would be treated just as our opposite-sex spouses," McKenna said. "…The district doesn't fund any portion of that premium."

Amendment

The Springfield school board unanimously approved this change to health coverage, effective Dec. 1:

"Eligibility — Definition of "spouse" expanded to include same sex spouses married in a state that legally recognizes same sex marriages."