Employee Benefits

Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity Plans

Anthem accident coverage provides a cash benefit in one lump sum if you or a covered family member is injured because of an accident. Anthem critical illness coverage provides an added layer of protection with a lump sum payment in case of critical illness. Anthem hospital indemnity coverage provides a lump-sum, tax-free benefit to help pay for costs that come from a hospital stay. The school division provides these optional benefits that coordinate with Anthem health insurance.

anthem vacorp voluntary supplemental health plans info

Commonwealth of Virginia 457 Deferred Compensation Plan and Virginia Cash Match Plan

All FCPS employees have the option to invest in the Commonwealth of Virginia 457 Deferred Compensation Plan (COV 457). The COV 457 is a pre-tax savings plan that is sponsored by the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). Employees can sign up for this benefit at any time. In addition, the Virginia Cash Match Plan is available to permanent FCPS employees who are not eligible for VRS. Eligible employees are required to make continuous contributions of at least $10 per pay period to the COV 457 Plan to be eligible for a cash match. Employees who are eligible for VRS are not allowed to participate in the Virginia Cash Match Plan.

cash match plan information

deferred compensation plan information

Employee Assistance Programs

The school division offers two Employee Assistance Programs: one associated with Anthem for employees who have FCPS’ Anthem health insurance and another for employees are waive FCPS health insurance coverage. To see Anthem's website for FCPS, visit https://www.anthem.com/employer/employee-benefits-programs/services and enter Commonwealth of Virginia as company name and then select The Local Choice. To see Optima's website for FCPS, visit https://optimaeap.personaladvantage.com/ and enter "FCPS" as the username.

ANTHEM EAP INFO

OPTIMA EAP INFO

Employee Leave

Sick Leave

Sick leave is allowed for personal illness, family illness, or death in the immediate family or other relatives in the household. All full-time employees earn sick leave at the rate of 1.0 day of sick leave for each contracted month. Full-time employees may accumulate an unlimited number of sick days. Upon retirement (or upon death-in-service) with five years of continuous service to the Fredericksburg City Public Schools and written request, an employee (or their estate) will be paid up to 200 days at the rate of $30 per day for any unused sick leave. Sick leave may be transferable to/from other school divisions in Virginia.

Sick leave is allowed for personal illness, including quarantine, injury, or pregnancy. Up to three days leave can be used in any one case of illness of a family member of the employee requiring the attendance of the employee. A “family member” for sick leave shall include natural parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, stepmother, stepfather, wife, husband, children, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and any other relative living in the household of the employee.

Personal Leave

Personal Leave shall be defined as leave taken without loss of pay for personal matters. Full-time employees with up to 15 years of continuous service to the Fredericksburg City Public Schools shall be granted two days of personal leave annually; full-time employees with more than 15 years of continuous service will earn three days annually. Up to 5 days of personal leave may be taken in a single year; any accumulated personal leave over 5 days which is not used by the end of the school year will be transferred to the employee's sick leave account. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the Superintendent.

Vacation (12-month employees)

All full-time 12-month contracted employees with up to 5 years of continuous service to the Fredericksburg City Public Schools earn 12 vacation days per year. Full-time employees with more than 5 years and up to 10 years of continuous service will earn 15 days annually. Full-time employees with more than 10 years of continuous service will earn 18 days annually. Upon termination of employment with Fredericksburg City Public Schools, and with a written request an employee will be paid their current daily rate of pay for any unused vacation (annual leave) days up to 30 days.

Flexible Spending and Dependent Care Accounts

NueSynergy Flexible Spending Accounts and Dependent Care Accounts allow employees to make premium contributions for medical and dependent care costs with pre-tax dollars, thereby reducing taxable income. The school division provides an optional Flexible Savings Account for employees who choose a traditional health insurance plan and an optional Dependent Care Account for all employees. Changes in coverage during each plan year under pre-tax plans are allowed only in accordance with IRS regulations covering certain “Qualifying Events”; such events are defined by the IRS.

dependent care fsa info

FSA Healthcare nuesynergy info

Health Insurance (Including Vision and Dental)

The school division offers comprehensive Anthem health insurance coverage to employees, The Local Choice, a state-sponsored plan. Employees are offered a choice of three plans: Key Advantage Expanded, Key Advantage 250 and Key Advantage High Deductible. Some part-time employees may also be eligible to participate, but must contribute a higher portion of the total premium(s). Changes in coverage during each plan year under pre-tax plans are allowed only in accordance with IRS regulations covering certain “Qualifying Events”; such events are defined by the IRS.

key advantage high deductible info

key advantage 250 info

key advantage expanded info

Health Savings and Limited Purpose Flexible Spending Accounts

NueSynergy Health Savings Accounts are individually owned, tax favored accounts that allow employees to pay for qualified healthcare expenses when they choose a high deductible health plan. The school division provides a health savings account with an annual employer contribution. A limited purpose Flexible Savings Account is also an option for employees who choose a high deductible health plan. Changes in coverage during each plan year under pre-tax plans are allowed only in accordance with IRS regulations covering certain “Qualifying Events”; such events are defined by the IRS.

HSA Nuesynergy info

nuesynergy limited purpose fsa info

LegalShield/IDShield Plans

Mentor Program

Beginning and experienced teachers are paired with a mentor teacher to provide ongoing support and collaboration opportunities during the school year. Our program focuses on developing and retaining highly effective teachers, improving teachers’ skills and performance, increasing student performance, supporting teacher morale, building a sense of professionalism, and putting theory into practice.

Retirement

VRS

Membership in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) is mandatory for all full-time employees who are contracted to work at least 7 hours a day. The school division pays the required employer contribution and employees must pay 5% of their creditable compensation, which is taken via payroll deduction. If employees have never been in VRS before or they joined VRS after January 1, 2013, they will be enrolled in the VRS Hybrid Plan. They are required by VRS to pay 4% into VRS and 1% into a 401(a) defined contribution plan. Enrollees in the VRS Hybrid plan can elect to contribute up to 4% on the creditable compensation into the 457 plan and the employer will match up to 2.5% into the 401(a) plan. Employees with previous VRS service before January 1, 2013 are required to enroll in a VRS legacy plan.

Hybrid vrs info

VRS MEMBER GUIDE

Early Retirement Incentive Program

Fredericksburg City Public Schools offers from year to year an Early Retirement Incentive Program to all certified employees who meet certain eligibility requirements upon retirement. The program, which is referred to as ERIP, permits eligible employees to receive certain additional benefits.

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