Tuesday, June 25, 2002
New England private schools extending domestic partner benefits to teachers
A story published today by the Concord Monitor reports that some private school teachers in Concord, New England will get health insurance for their domestic partners beginning in September based on recently settled contract. These benefits already exist at St. Paul's School, Philips Exeter Academy, Proctor Academy and New Hampton School. Educators expect more private and public schools to follow suit.
"It's a logical next step," said Steve Clem, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools in New England. "Diversity discussions at schools have enlightened people beyond issues of race and class and into sexuality."
Eligibility varies by school. Insurance companies require couples to sign paperwork affirming their commitment as domestic partners. The policy aims to distinguish true couples from frivolous ones.
The term "domestic partner" includes both homosexual and heterosexual couples at Proctor Academy and the New Hampton School. "We don't discriminate based on sexuality," said New Hampton business manager Jill Duncan.
As in the new Concord contract, heterosexual teachers at St. Paul's cannot get health coverage for boyfriends or girlfriends, according to Bishop Craig Anderson.
Dublin School Headmaster Chris Horgan echoed the sentiments of many officials at private schools that do not offer same-sex coverage.
"It's not something we've addressed," Horgan said. "But like anything, from this important issue to whether kids should have cell phones, we expect it will make its way up to us."
Sant Bani School, Holderness School and Tilton School do not yet offer the benefits. At Brewster Academy and Derryfield School, administrators were on vacation. The issue is moot at Hampshire Country School, where health coverage does not include employees' spouses, family members or same-gender partners.
"It's inevitable that it will come up more in schools," said Peter Barnum, admissions director at Holderness School. "It's certainly coming up more in the workplace."
In New Hampshire, private schools and higher education institutions have clearly taken the lead. In 1998, New Hampton School and Dartmouth College adopted domestic partner benefits. The University of New Hampshire followed in 2000.
"I think it's the responsibility of private schools to be in the vanguard," Anderson said. "If we're not, we're just bastions of elitism."
One public school district is discussing same-sex benefits in its contract negotiations, according to a spokesperson for HealthTrust, a division of the New Hampshire Municipal Association, a nonprofit group that offers insurance to approximately 80 percent of the state's schools, including Concord.
So far, no cities or towns in New Hampshire have hopped on the bandwagon. None of the 185 municipalities insured by HealthTrust provide employees with same-sex benefits.
