By Sheila Anderson

Valley City Times-Record

 High health care costs busted the local school district's 2007-'08 budget.
Numbers from the annual financial report show payments for the employee insurance program overshot the budgeted insurance cap of $320,000  by $439,932.46, meaning the Valley City School District paid out $739,932.46 for its Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance policy.
The hike was due to a number of lengthy hospitalizations of some staff members, which led to some huge claims, according to Supt. Dean Koppelman.
“We don't have control over people's health,” Koppelman said. “That was a huge factor to our financial picture. Anytime you overspend an account by that much, it affects the picture in such a negative way financially.”
The Valley City School District budgets for a $320,000 cap for Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance.
The current insurance plan will not change, although Koppelman noted the insurance cap could change in the negotiations process with teachers. And teachers might pay in more for individual premiums next year.

See Monday's edition of the T-R to read the rest of this story.