Peru schools offering retirement incentive

PERU - Teachers with 14 years' experience with the Peru Community Schools are being offered $15,000 in incentives to retire to reduce the number of teaching positions in the school system.

The details of the retirement incentives were made public last week when the school board voted to approve a new two-year contract with the teacher's union.

Peru teachers had been working without a contract since last September. The new contract runs through August 2011.

Teachers will receive a 1.2 percent salary increase over the two years, but the payments will be distributed in a unique fashion. The teachers will receive the salary increase from September through January and then revert back to the 2009 pay schedule until Dec. 31, 2010. For 2011 the teachers will receive the remainder of the pay increase in regular payroll installments from January through August.

"These are difficult times for all of us in the state," Superintendent Andrew Mellin said. "The ability to get a new contract, which was worked on for a year, is a big benefit."

Mellin said by spreading out the salary increase, it will help the schools with cash flow because the school has to cut $1.5 million this year.

"We have to make teaching cuts," he said. "We won't see the benefit until September. We had to find a way to increase cash flow in 2010. This could save about $100,000."

The contract includes a $15,000 incentive to teachers that elect to retire at the end of the 2009-2010 school year with the payments spread out over three years.

Mellin said the 2010 personnel cuts will save between $1 million and $1.2 million.

The school system is looking to reduce anywhere from 12 to 20 positions. He said if no teachers elect to retire, the newest teachers hired will be terminated.

Mellin said there are at least 24 teachers eligible for retirement.

"We want to make equitable cuts in all categories," he said. "It's not about new or old teachers but the financial bottom line."

Mellin said requiring more teacher cuts will result in larger class sizes in the future.

"We want to maintain our educational programs at the same level," he said.

The top salary for a teacher is $70,000 per year in wages and benefits.