School Committee Approves Retirement Incentive

The approved an early-retirement incentive for teachers Tuesday.

The incentive, which received unanimous support, will give retiring teachers an additional 8 percent on their base pensions, if they let the district know they’re leaving by a certain date.

Superintendent Kathleen Bodie told the committee the incentive would help the district retain its younger teachers, as if more senior teachers take the incentive, newer ones would be spared from potential layoffs.

She said the incentive was not intended as a cost-saving measure but will be, at worst, budget neutral.

“We’re just trying to save jobs,” Bodie said at the meeting.

Since teachers are paid on a step scale, with more years of experience and education leading to higher salaries, retirement incentives can often cut costs, as more senior teachers are replaced by their less-experienced, and therefore lesser-paid, counterparts.

This incentive could also save the town unemployment costs, as theoretically fewer teachers will receive layoff notices and then apply for unemployment at the end of the school year.

Michael Carta, a special education tutor and teachers’ union representative, spoke in favor of the incentive during public participation at the beginning of the meeting.

“Don’t think of (the incentive) as a retirement proposal, it’s more of a job initiative program, job savings program,” he said. “When a teacher retires, it creates an opportunity for a younger teacher on a layoff list, not to be laid off.”

Last year, the committee passed an incentive that gave teachers an additional 10 percent. Joseph Curran, a committee member, asked Bodie why she believed the district couldn’t make the same offer this year.

Bodie said at a higher number she couldn’t guarantee that the incentive would be budget neutral without knowing exactly who was going to take it. There are 47 teachers eligible for the incentive, she said.

“It doesn’t mean (retirement) is in their plans, but for some people this particular incentive may be enough,” she said.

Curran said he wanted Bodie to meet with the union to see if the two sides could figure out a way to see if a 10 percent incentive would be possible. He thought a higher number might attract more potential retirees and therefore save more jobs.

“It’s just a thought,” he said.

Committee member Jeff Thielman said Bodie should present the proposal to the union’s leadership and the committee could always modify it based on their reaction.