Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 19, 1991 TAG: 9103190317
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MIKE WOLFE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: COVINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The 1991 General Assembly adopted rules that allow employees who are at least 50 years old and have 25 years of Virginia Retirement System service to retire five years earlier than they could before. Few school systems in the state have adopted the plan.
Monday, about 20 teachers and other staff members favoring early retirement came to the board meeting.
Board Chairman Janie Barnette surprised the audience with the news that, at 2 p.m. Monday, the School Board office had received a new formula for calculating the proposal's cost to the locality. The figures came after weeks of deliberation on the previous numbers.
As a result, the board postponed its decision. A special meeting was scheduled next Monday.
Outside the meeting, teachers who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they had been optimistic at first that the proposal would be approved, partly as a way of eliminating positions in a system with declining enrollment. Then, they said, rumors circulated that the board had decided against it because of higher-than-expected costs.
Harriet Snead, a counselor at Alleghany High School, told the board the program could profit several groups. She said those eligible could leave teaching while they are still feeling "productive and capable" instead of staying too long. Others, who choose to stay, will gain renewed commitment, Snead said.
Snead said the plan could keep younger teachers from becoming "stagnant" waiting for promotion opportunities. Young teachers would no longer need to worry about reductions in force, she said.
Board member Ione Callender told the teachers that the board is just "seeing if what the state is offering is as good as it sounds," and said rumors that the board already had decided were false.
Barnette said the decision would have to be a fiscally responsible one for the 40-plus people eligible, the nearly 400 other employees and the citizens of the area.
Barnette also said that, while the state plans to replace few of their retiring workers, the school system would have to replace many retirees. That requirement will lessen the financial benefits retirement could give the School Board.
by CNB