KINGSTON — Six current and former Highland school district administrators are suing the district over its 2007 decision that required them to contribute 15 percent of the cost of their post-retirement health and dental insurance.

The plaintiffs says the district previously agreed to fully fund the coverage.

In a complaint filed in state Supreme Court in Kingston, the plaintiffs allege the school district breached its contract with the administrators when it unilaterally changed the terms of the agreements reached with each person.

Memoranda of agreement between four of the employees and the district, the complaint states, explicitly set the terms of employment and disallowed any change “except by mutual agreement in writing.”

Spokeswomen for the state School Boards Association and an Albany think tank called the Empire Center for Public Policy speculated that a state law passed in 1994, and reauthorized each year since, could enable the district to legally change the contracts.

That law dictates that health benefits for retired school employees cannot be changed without making the same change for current employees. But because the Highland administrators are not unionized, Lise Bang-Jensen, senior policy analyst for the Empire Center, wondered who could agree to a benefit change on their behalf.

“I guess that’s why the retirees are going to court,” she said.

Victor Livicorri, the Highland school district’s acting superintendent, said on Thursday that the district has, indeed, required of current administrators the same 15 percent contribution, but on the topic of the lawsuit itself, he would say only that the district’s legal counsel is working toward a fair resolution.

New York School Boards Association Spokeswoman Barbara Bradley said districts have been scrambling to find ways to trim their budgets, particularly in light of Gov. David Paterson’s proposed $700 million cut in state aid to public schools during fiscal 2009-10, and personnel costs are in the crosshairs because they are the largest part of any school budget.

Furthermore, because school districts are not required to set aside money for retirees’ health insurance in the same way they must for pensions, Bang-Jensen said she expects benefits for retired teachers from the baby boomer generation to become “a huge problem” in coming years, estimating the total bill in the state could be $50 billion.

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