20 more teachers are retiring

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An additional 20 Youngstown city school teachers have opted to take advantage of a retirement-incentive package designed to help reduce the ranks of district employees.
That brings to 46 the number of teachers who have announced plans to retire or resign with the end of this school year.
The board of education approved the incentive package in March in an effort to get at least 35 teachers to retire as part of a cost-reduction plan being put into place for the 2006-07 school year, which begins July 1.
A total of 118 are actually eligible to retire.
The incentive offers the teachers $30,000 over a three-year period but doesn't provide them with any direct cash payments.
Instead, the money is being divided evenly between a health-care retirement account and a 403B retirement account for each teacher.
District officials have estimated a savings of at least $20,000 per year for each retiree, basically the difference between their top salaries and the starting salaries for new teachers to replace them.
With top salaries reaching nearly $60,000 a year, the savings will be substantially higher if a retiree doesn't have to be replaced, officials said.
Furlough list
The board of education already has approved a furlough list of 57 teachers who have been told they might not have a job next year and eight others who were told their contracts definitely won't be renewed.
Those cutbacks are based on enrollment reductions, but some of those on the list can expect to be recalled to fill vacancies caused by retirements.
The district has 796 teachers, and their contract prohibits that number from dropping any lower than 740 next school year, which means only 56 teachers can actually be cut.
The administration has proposed an employee-reduction plan that would cut nearly 100 jobs next year as the district works to reduce a projected $20 million deficit.
The $8.7 million reduction plan calls for cutting 56 teaching posts, 18 classified staff positions and 21.5 administrative positions.
Even with those cuts, Youngstown is still facing an $11.9 million deficit, and school officials have said a five-year tax levy will likely be needed to cover the red ink.
gwin@vindy.com