AUBURN – Saying it needs to harness costs to taxpayers, the Auburn School Department is asking teachers to give up health care for spouses unless teachers pay for it.

In exchange, the School Department is offering to boost teacher salaries, and cover 100 percent of insurance premiums for teachers and their children.

Auburn taxpayers pay 90 to 95 percent of premiums for teachers, their spouses and children. Teachers’ annual premium costs range from $317 to $1,739, while taxpayers annual per-teacher costs range from $6,023 to $15,654.

So far, the Auburn teachers union isn’t saying yes. Negotiations are continuing.

The change would mean some teachers would benefit, “but about 50 percent would wind up losing between $4,000 to $6,000 a year,” said Timothy Wegmann, president of the Auburn Education Association, who teaches at the Park Avenue Elementary School.

Teachers aren’t likely to ratify a contract where 50 percent would be harmed, he predicted. “The amount of solidarity that has come up from people feeling cornered has been tremendous.”

For instance, one Park Avenue school teacher’s husband has a terminal illness. He doesn’t have insurance someplace else, “so what do you do then?” Wegmann asked. “We have another teacher in the district whose husband has had a transplant.” When spouses are not employed because they’re sick, “what do you do for the medications he needs?”

No longer covering spouses is not a trend in Maine, Wegmann said, who said only a few districts are eliminating it. The head of the state teachers union said he’s not aware of any other school district proposing to eliminate health coverage for spouses. It is not a trend, “and it’s nothing we’re going to support,” said Mark Gray, executive director of the Maine Education Association.

The labor contract for Auburn teachers expired in August. Schools Superintendent Tom Morrill said teachers aren’t working without a contract, because terms of the old contract continue until both sides agree on a new one.

School Committee members recognize that Auburn’s teachers “render services second to none,” care deeply about students and contribute to their success, Morrill said. Negotiations began one year ago. Health care became a stumbling block, he said.

“We all know health care costs continue to escalate. That’s a cost everyone is bearing.” And, Morrill said, cost increases are unpredictable.

By covering all of the premium for teachers and their children, and no longer paying for spouses, fewer people would be covered by the School Department. That could help tame future costs, Morrill said.

Spouses of many Auburn teachers are employed in businesses that offer health care, but offer cash incentives for workers to take health insurance elsewhere, Morrill said. Those businesses are avoiding a cost other employees accept as their responsibility, and are shifting the burden to Auburn taxpayers, Morrill said.

Teachers’ spouses could choose to stay on the School Department’s insurance, but would have to pay about $6,300 a year for premiums, or about $525 a month.

The teachers’ union leader said there’s never a good time for a major reduction in benefits, but with the higher cost of energy and food, the change could be devastating to some.

Historically, to maintain benefits, Auburn teachers have negotiated lower salaries, “so this would be a major shift,” Wegmann said. “We have offered to pay a larger percentage of the premium. But if we look at our salaries, we’re in the middle. It’s difficult for us to go from about the middle salary wise, then drop to the bottom in benefits.”

Statistics provided by Morrill show that Auburn has been more generous with health benefits, but salaries are lower than some districts.

While Auburn teachers pay 5 to 10 percent of premiums, Lewiston teachers pay 21.9 to 27.7 percent.

Auburn’s beginning and top teacher salaries are $28,013 and $58,861, and the average teacher pay is $42,140. Lewiston’s beginning and top teacher salaries are $32,782 and $64,351, and the average is $45,963.

The school department is proposing to use money saved from not paying for spouses’ health care “and reinvest that money into salaries,” Morrill said. He said he could not say how much of a raise teachers are being offered because it was part of negotiations.

“All parties are working diligently to come up with a resolution that honors the good work that teachers do, and meet our short- and long-term needs that treats the citizens of Auburn fairly,” Morrill said.

“We’re always open to compromise,” Wegmann said.