New Castle teachers are retiring

School officials want to start a pre-kindergarten program.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The New Castle Area School District expects to save at least $380,000 from teacher retirements during the next school year.
School board members accepted the retirement Wednesday of 16 teachers under an early retirement and severance package offered by the district. Three others had previously been accepted.
More could come, said school officials. The last day for teachers to opt into the program is April 30.
Superintendent George Gabriel said the district expects to save about $20,000 per teacher during their first year of retirement and the savings will increase as the years go on.
He said the board plans to study if all need replaced. Replacements hired will start at much lower salary, Gabriel added.
Most are elementary teachers
Most of those retiring are from the elementary school level, but some are high school and intermediate school teachers. The majority will work through the last day of school June 11.
In other business, board members gave the district permission to apply for a state Accountability Block Grant. Gabriel said the $633,089 grant would be used to start a pre-kindergarten program. He said it would be optional for 4-year-olds to attend classes. They are unsure whether it will be a full or part-day of classes.
Gabriel said they are optimistic about getting the money and should know by May 25. If approved by the state, the program will begin this fall.
The three-year grant -- which falls under Gov. Ed Rendell's new education package -- would cover all the costs including staff, materials and busing. After three years the costs would be phased into the general budget, he said.
Gabriel said they are also looking at realigning some of the buildings to accommodate this new program. The pre-kindergarten program would be housed in the Croton School building. The kindergarten, which is now in Croton, would move to Lockley Primary Center. Lockley's first- through third-graders would be dispersed to the other primary centers.
All that could change, however. School board members hired Eckles Architecture to determine if some district buildings could be closed. The firm will be paid $20,000 from the school's general fund for the study.
Gabriel said they want to know if the Benjamin Franklin Junior High School could be turned into a primary center for all first- through third-graders. The four primary centers would then close. The junior high schoolers are set to be part of the new New Castle Junior/Senior High School in the 2005-06 school year.
cioffi@vindy.com