Benicia School Board OKs Early Retirement Plan

The School Board voted to move forward with a plan to allow 17 teachers to take early retirement.  The move makes it possible for 15 other teachers who received pink slips earlier this year to keep their jobs.

The early retirement plan uses the differential between the payroll cost of the retiring teachers and their replacements to fund the early retirement.   The district pays a portion of the differential  into a fund that is used to supplement the pensions of the early retirees.

In this case the district will make five payments of $119,136 to the Public Agency Retirement System commonly referred to as PARS.  The savings to the district over five years is projected to be $38,559, but could be higher depending on the experience level of the replacement teachers.

School Board Trustee Steve Messina urged his fellow board members to vote for the plan saying, “It’s going to make the hard problems we still have to face smaller.”

Kema Small, a teacher at Robert Semple is one of those accepting the early retirement offer.  She had planned to work for four more years, but with the early retirement incentive she will retire this year allowing a younger teacher to take her place. "I'm floored," said Small.

The early retirement plan was driven by the teachers who were trying to save jobs for younger teachers who received pink slips earlier this year.