Three years after dropping Kaiser Permanente and Cigna as health-insurance providers, Arlington Public Schools is bringing them back.
Superintendent Francisco Durán said at the May 28 School Board meeting that the two firms had been selected to provide health-insurance coverage for a three-year period beginning at the start of 2027. They will replace CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, which has held the contract since January 2024.
“Any change to a health-care plan is significant, so we will be providing many opportunities for staff to learn more and select the right provider,” Durán told School Board members.
Participating staff members will have the opportunity to choose coverage from either Cigna or Kaiser Permanente. An open health-insurance enrollment period for current APS employees and retirees under the age of 65 will take place throughout October.
Kaiser Permanente had provided health-insurance and health-care coverage to APS employees for 36 years, but it and Cigna lost the contract in 2023 over what appeared to be a series of miscommunications and faulty assumptions.
Both the school system and Kaiser pointed fingers at the other, while school employees fumed over what they perceived as a lack of transparency in the decision-making process and a limited time to make new health-insurance choices.
Durán said he and school leaders approached this selection process with a “commitment to learning from past experiences and making decisions that prioritize stability, confidence and access to quality care.”
“We took all the necessary steps” to avoid a repeat of the 2023 debacle, Durán told School Board members.
The school system hired a consultant and convened a panel including staff and representatives of the Arlington Education Association (AEA) and Arlington School Administrators (ASA) to oversee the selection process.
The result was “an objective and thorough review,” said AEA president June Prakash, who served on the panel.
“The goal was to look at the overall quality and value of each proposal, not just one factor alone,” Prakash said in a video presentation at the May 28 meeting.
Corey Dotson, the school system’s assistant superintendent for human resources, echoed her view.
“The goal is to ensure APS is making informed, responsible decisions that balance affordability, quality and employee needs,” he told School Board members.
Initial information was rolled out to employees May 29, with further details, including pricing options, coming over the summer.
Durán told School Board members one reason to get the information out before the end of the school year was so teachers and others covered by annual contracts would have the information before the summertime signing deadline.
In other School Board news:
Summer school almost staffed up: Durán told School Board members the 2026 summer-school program is almost fully staffed up as it awaits the arrival of approximately 6,000 students.
“Staffing is nearly finalized,” the superintendent said. “We’re right on track.”
Summer-school programming will begin July 6.
Plans for summer school come as APS starts counting down the days to go before the end of the 2025-26 school year.
“We’re almost at the finish line,” Durán said.
Middle-school singers honored: Durán saluted students from Williamsburg Middle School, who on May 19 sang the National Anthem at Nationals Park as the Washington Nationals took on the New York Mets.
“Thank you, Williamsburg, for stepping up to the plate and representing us well,” Durán said. “They showcased the APS talent we have on a Major League stage.”
Students from the middle school previously had provided musical services at games of the Washington Wizards and D.C. United, the superintendent said.
