21 minus 17 equals 5

Yep this is math as it is today.

21 of us in our district took the retirement incentive package and our resignations are to be made public tonight. I am not there.. but I have found out from inside sources that our resignations saved some jobs in the district. Its the modern reality of new Human Resources Math.

21 teachers resigned and took the package. The district wanted to reduce its teaching corps by 17. This package allowed for the district to rethink its numbers. It will only need to make good on 5 layoffs from our permanent teacher group next year.

We knew that it was not going to be a one for one swap. Some teachers in some categories are going to be more expensive to replace. This way is really the way to make cuts without adding to the rancor and the heartache that layoffs often bring.

Here is a copy and paste with from the board approval background:

Background/Discussion The District has worked with Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) to develop a supplementary retirement plan that would achieve budget savings and assist in reducing the impact of potential layoffs. The feasibility of the plan, defined in Board Resolution 7-09, is dependent upon sufficient plan participation to meet the District’s fiscal and operational objectives. The enrollment window for the PARS Supplementary Retirement Plan was February 18, 2010 through March 17, 2010. During that time, employees submitted their intent to retire documentation and application for participation in the PARS program. PARS received applications from 20 certificated teachers, 1 certificated administrator, 24 classified non-management employees and 3 classified management employees. While the application of one certificated administrator did not meet the threshold consistent with the District’s fiscal and operational objectives, the applications of the 47 other employees result in an estimated 3-year savings of $1.5 million dollars. The retirements rendered by certificated teachers reduces the need for certificated layoff from 15.7 FTE to 5.5 FTE. The savings take into account the replacement of retiring teachers by lower seniority teachers who were included in the district’s reduction in force. Alternatives/Identified Opposition: None.

Funding:

Recommendation:

The PARS Supplementary Retirement Plan is a cost to the district. Negotiations with the PARS administrator were successful in reducing the cost of the plan from 5.5% to 5% per employee supplemental plan. The cost of the program is approximately $20,000 per year, over a five year period.

The Superintendent recommends the Board of Trustees approve the enactment of the PARS Supplementary Retirement Plan consistent with Resolution No. 7-09 (passed on February 10, 2010).

So there it is.

: ) Pat