AUSTINTOWN TEACHERS Board chalks up idea for retired educators

The district employs more than 100 teachers with at least 24 years' experience.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The school board has passed a memorandum of understanding that will enable teachers who retire next month to be rehired for two years, a move that's projected to save the district money.
The teachers union is expected to vote on the change next week.
The union contract expires in August and the memorandum of understanding, if approved, amends that pact.
"Our district is looking at new and creative ways to get out of the hole the financial situation has put us in," Brad Gessner, school board president, said. "This is one way that doesn't hurt the education of our kids."
Under the memo, employees eligible to retire under the State Teachers Retirement System, must notify the school board in writing between June 1 and June 30 to be eligible for re-employment for the 2005-06 school year.
The employees will be guaranteed two, one-year contracts in the same position they occupied when they retired.
Whether employment is renewed after that two years is under the discretion of the school superintendent. The employee won't be eligible for school district health benefits or insurance.
Incentives
A retiring employee will receive a cash incentive of $8,000 per year for up to five years. For example, if an employee retires with 30 years or less of service, he or she will receive $8,000 per year for five years. If an employee retires with 31 years of service, he or she will receive $8,000 per year for four years, under the memo's provisions.
Teachers with 24 years service who are not yet eligible to retire could resign and receive the $8,000 per year incentive for five years under the provision.
Board members unanimously approved the memo.
Gessner said 59 district teachers have at least 30 years of service. With the addition of teachers with at least 24 years, there are more than 100 teachers eligible, he said.
Michael Creatore, a board member, initially was opposed to the idea but changed his mind upon discovering the potential savings to the district.
District savings
A teacher with 30 years service and a master's degree earns an annual salary of $62,785 and when combined with benefits, it adds up to about $88,020 annually, according to information from the school district.
If that teacher retires and is rehired for two years, the cost is lower. A returning teacher would earn an annual salary of $41,546 with no hospitalization or other insurance costs paid by the district.
That reduces the cost to the district to about $74,379 in the first year of the teacher's rehire, including a one-time $18,000 severance pay.
In the second year, with no severance, that cost reduces to $56,379.
If a veteran teacher retires and is replaced with a beginning teacher, the cost would be $77,762 to the district the first year and $61,472 the second year, according to documentation from the district.
The memorandum of understanding doesn't afford retired or resigned teachers the right to bump into other positions if layoffs occur, Creatore said.
"I look at it as a 30-day proposal that will allow teachers with the seniority the ability to retire and allow the school district to save a lot of money," Creatore said.
The teachers' contract limits the school board to eliminating 10 teaching positions per year. Creatore said another element of the memorandum of understanding that swayed him is the positions of those who take advantage of the rehire/retire provision don't count against that 10-position limitation.
"If 15 decide to retire or resign between June 1 and June 30, that's not included in the 10-per-year limitation," he said.