Facing Possible $1 MM Deficit, Oak Creek Offers Early Retirement

OAK CREEK, WI -- Citing rising costs, members of the Oak Creek-Franklin joint school board voted in favor of a cost-saving measure aimed at addressing a projected $1 million budget deficit for the 2019-20 school year.

The school board this week approved changing the language written in the district's employee handbook to make it possible for teachers and staff to retire early without losing money they have already invested in their Health Reimbursement Accounts according to district officials.

Official documents state that the plan applies to teacher who make at least $79,000 a year, and staff who make a minimum of between $22-29 per hour in various roles - all who have at least 20 years of service time with the district.

In talking with Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Assistant Superintendent Daniel Unertl, he said the plan offers outgoing employees to hold on to benefits that they'd ordinarily lose in the event they retired early.

"This one-time vesting would allow an individual who wanted to end their employment in Oak Creek this year to vest on June 30 without forfeiting the money already in their HRA account," Unertl explained to Patch. "As the plan is currently written, if you leave before the pre-assigned retirement date, you would walk away from those dollars."

According to district documents, the cost in salary and benefits ranges from $0 - if nobody takes the early-retirement sweetener, to more than $2.3 million if every eligible worker makes the decision to take early retirement. According to an official news release, this measure was one of several considered by the board to make up the projected budget deficit for the next fiscal year.

Patch File Photo by Scott Anderson