District may switch mental health agencies

Northern Pines Mental Health Services in Brainerd may no longer provide services to the Brainerd School District.

The district's Finance Committee met Tuesday and decided it will recommend that the Brainerd School Board approve a three-year contract July 12 with Nystrom and Associates, a Minnesota-based agency with a Brainerd/Baxter office, to facilitate the school's mental health services to its students.

The district requested proposals on its mental health contracts and Nystrom and Associates and Northern Pines responded. Northern Pines has been the district's mental health service agency for as long as the district has provided the service.

Steve Lund, director of business services, said based on the current contract, Nystrom and Associates would save the district $442,500 over a three-year period and Northern Pines would save the district $317,400.

Lund said Northern Pines' proposal would cost the district $160,000 per school year and Nystrom's proposal would cost the district $125,000 per school year. This past school year, Northern Pines' contract cost the district about $215,000.

The district put together a selection committee of six district employees that included Heidi Hahn, the special education director; Gaynard Brown, director of the Paul Bunyan Cooperative; two lead special education teachers; Superintendent Steve Razidlo; and Lund who provided input on the proposals.

Lund said the district was clear what the district was looking for in mental health services. Lund said the services from Nystrom will be the same or better than what Northern Pines provided. Lund said the committee reviewed both agencies thoroughly to ensure adequate levels of qualified staff would be maintained to continue and build upon the successful programs.

The district currently provides mental health services to 130 special education students and 40 regular education students at Brainerd High School and Forestview Middle School.

Board member Ruth Nelson said, "I compliment you (Lund) for your work on the contract. You've cut our cost more than half."

Board member Tom Haglin asked Lund if Northern Pines dropped any programs or if it shed any light about the cost in their proposal. Lund said he couldn't say why Northern Pines proposal was higher. Lund said the committee made sure the agencies understood that no programs would be cut and that all the necessary staffing levels would be in place.

In other committee business, the committee will recommend that the school board not renew its worker's compensation insurance with State Fund Mutual, but to award it to Indiana Insurance. SFM's proposal on premiums would have cost the district $270,708 and Indiana's was $235,000 for next school year.

Lund said the district has experienced a sporadic history with claims in its worker's comp insurance. Lund said the trend of work-related injuries has been declining, which has resulted in increased competition in carriers, which has meant declining premium expenses to the district.

The district had $225,456 in claims in 2009-10, which produced $238,646 in premiums in that school year.

Lund said the district seen an increase in the number of claims that were a result of physical injuries to staff caused by students, primarily due to behavior situations. Lund said the district plans to train its employees better to decrease its claims.

The committee also would like the board to renew its property/casualty insurance with Indiana Insurance and increase the property deductible from $10,000 to $25,000. Lund said increasing the deductible would reduce the district's premium by about $12,000.

The committee will recommend the board renew the post-secondary education contract with Central Lakes College. Under the agreement, the district will pay for up to 36 credits annually for students to take the PSEO courses. The district will continue to receive the full general education revenue from the state to pay for the credits at CLC at a rate of $185 per credit.

And the committee will recommend the board to go from a fully insured plan with Delta Dentist, to establish a self-insurance fund and plan that would be administered by Delta Dental.