A struggling economy, rising costs and concerns about fairness have prompted Indiana school districts to slowly begin abandoning a long-held policy of offering administrators health insurance for $1 or less a year.

Nearly 60 of Indiana's 354 public school districts now require administrators to pay more than $1 for their health insurance. That's a big shift from a decade ago, when most districts shouldered the insurance costs for their top staff, said Nelson Miller, a consultant with the Indiana School Boards Association.

School districts that have made the change say it has saved them millions at a time when state funding for schools has dropped. But others say low-cost health benefits are expected for key positions.

The Penn-Harris-Madison school district in Mishawaka has saved more than $5 million since changing its policy in 2005, spokeswoman Teresa Carroll told the Daily Journal of Franklin.

Administrators and teachers who once paid as little as $1 a year now pay as much as $2,631 for health insurance, and the district covers the rest, she said.

She said the district has spent the savings on teachers and operating costs.