College district part-time staff seek dental, vision coverage

Part-time faculty, for the purposes of receiving insurance coverage, is any faculty member whose teaching assignment equals or exceeds 40% of the cumulative equivalent of a full-time teaching assignment. Around 250 employees meet this threshold, but Marianne Kaletzky, executive director of the union chapter, said an estimated 85 employees have demonstrated a need and would benefit from this coverage.

Tamara Perkins, an adjunct faculty member at both Skyline College and the College of San Mateo, said the district needs to demonstrate support for its part-time faculty because of the critical component they play in providing quality education to its students. 

“Being an adjunct faculty is a career. For many of us, it’s our career,” Perkins said. “It looks very different for all of us depending on our situation and time we have to devote, but it is a career. We’re coming in and giving it our all for the students of this school.” 

The district currently is supportive of providing medical coverage to part-time faculty, Kaletzky said. Previously it seemed the district was adamantly not considering including dental and vision, but have recently said it would investigate the cost of doing so, Kaletzky said. 

The district refrained from comment on the matter because a representative said negotiations are confidential. 

Rika Yonemura-Fabian, a professor at Skyline College who is on the executive team for the union, said there should be no disparity in what benefits should be provided to staff. 

“It seems like an impression of the district to think that dental and vision are a luxury,” Yonemura-Fabian said. “We wanted to show that that care also translates to whole body health.”

During public comment, Beth LaRochelle, program director at College of San Mateo’s dental assistant program, spoke on her expertise as a practicing dental assistant for more than 40 years and longtime educator. She said dental appointments are a critical component of overall health care. 

“Annual comprehensive oral exam is not just for checking cavities,” LaRochelle said. “It’s for checking periodontal disease, oral cancer, musculoskeletal interactions and abnormalities, and yes, cavities.”

Periodontal disease, or gum disease, can indicate other health concerns of greater severity, and therefore monitoring oral health is critical, she said.  

In addition to the health impact, David Hasson, who is on the bargaining team for the union, pointed to the correlation in supporting part-time staff to accomplishing the goals of the district at large. 

“This is necessary, in particular, to the district’s goals because rapidly expanding offering of dual enrollment, corequisites and career technical education in order to maintain enrollment, requires that part-time faculty who teach 40% or more are well taken care of,” Hasson said. 

It’s the board’s responsibility to make it viable, and desirable, to work in the district, Hasson said, and that can start by providing full health insurance benefits to its part-time staff. 

“As the state starts taking up the cost of medical, there’s a real opportunity to be attractive to our part-timers and keep them here and keep them working on our special projects,” Hasson said

Perkins said she doesn’t want to think about leaving her job, which she loves, but she needs to see tangible financial support to continue. 

“Over the last couple years, I've had to continue to weigh if this is sustainable or fair to my child,” Perkins said. “She’s so proud of having a mom that’s a teacher and she knows that I care and that’s meaningful to me too. But you can’t pay your bills on love.”

ana@smdailyjournal.com

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