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Campbell schools expect high retirements from law change
CAMPBELL
Campbell City Schools have announced that seven teachers and one administrator are retiring from the district by the end of June.
“It is with heavy hearts that we part ways with quality individuals who have helped shape the lives of past graduates,” said Matt Bowen, superintendent.
On average, Bowen said, two to three people leave the district each year. This year, the district already is at eight retirements, and he expects to see two or three more announced in the spring. Bowen said he suspects more teachers and administrators are leaving because Ohio’s State Teacher Retirement System laws have changed for 2015, and he said it will be “more cost-effective” for teachers to retire this year.
Ron Iarussi, superintendent of the Mahoning County Educational Service Center, said the percentage that retirees can collect on their salary after this year will go down.
Roxane Tarcy, a kindergarten teacher, announced her retirement from Campbell schools this fall. Although she said she thinks most of the people are leaving because of the new retirement laws, she said she simply “felt it was time to go.”
“I’m just anxious to do other things,” Tarcy said. “I’ve had a long career, and I want to do family things that have been on the back burner the past few years.”
Tarcy said she’s been a teacher since 1972 and has been with Campbell schools for 18 years.
Iarussi said he agreed there will be a trend of more teachers retiring from school districts across Ohio this year. He said he thinks Ohio schools might lose 10 to 20 percent of their staffs by the end of the school year because of changing retirement laws.
“We’ve already seen increased retirements the past couple years, but this year will be exceptionally high because of changes with retirement laws,” Iarussi said. “It’s going to be an issue of having the availability of licensed teachers to fill all these retirements.”
Iarussi said he thinks Ohio schools will have the hardest time and biggest need to fill jobs for science teachers, math teachers, special-education teachers and administrative positions.
Charles Howell, dean of the Beeghly College of Education at Youngstown State University, said it’s been hard to increase the number of science and mathematics teaching students attending the university.
“They are demanding fields and require in-depth knowledge on abstract subjects, lots of quantitative analysis and self-discipline,” Howell said.
Bowen said Campbell city schools likely will interview candidates for its open positions in winter.
“We look forward to accepting resumes in all disciplines and grade levels and encourage aspiring teachers on track to graduate this spring to apply,” Bowen said.