OSBA Board to create endowment to preserve Health Trust assets

The Oregon School Board Association (OSBA) Board voted to begin the process of creating an endowment fund to preserve assets from its Health Insurance Trust at its Salem meeting on Sept. 15. 

The board will appoint a committee of OSBA members to draft guidelines on the creation, preservation and eventual use of this fund, with decisions to be made by the OSBA Board.

In May, the board voted to end the trust effective Sept 30, 2007, following legislative action to create the Oregon Educators Benefits Board, which will establish a mandatory insurance pool for school districts and ESDs starting in October 2008. The new pool means OSBA's insurance program will end no later than 2010. 

The new endowment enables the OSBA Board to decide how trust assets will be preserved and how much to earmark for programs and services such as legislative advocacy, policy and leadership development for school boards throughout Oregon.

"By preserving the assets of our trust, we meet three major needs," said Trust Chair Craig Prewitt (Phoenix-Talent). "We'll continue health insurance services by helping members transition to the new pool, maintain core OSBA services that keep boards strong and running smoothly - and dedicate a major financial asset to meet future needs."

A copy of the OSBA resolution to create the endowment is at http://www.osba.org/aboutus/governance/resolutns.