than predicted
62 staff members opt
for early retirement
Number is higher
than predicted
by Howell board
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer
When the Howell Town-ship Council voted to return $566,000 to the 2004-05 school year budget that had been defeated by voters in April, the amount was based on the projected early retirement of 15 teachers from the township’s K-8 school district.
The deadline for teachers to notify the Board of Education of their intention to take early retirement was June 9, and the number was not what had been predicted.
According to Howell Sup-erintendent of Schools Enid Golden, a total of 62 teachers ended up taking advantage of a state incentive for early retirement.
Jeffrey Filiatreault, the township’s chief financial officer, said that as reported and certified to him by the school board, the added savings to the school district with the additional retirements would be $725,321, with a total amount of $1.29 million being de-creased from the $97 million budget.
The $566,000 amount was a calculation based on the difference between the salaries that are being paid to the veteran teachers who were expected to retire, and the new hires who would replace them at a pay scale that starts at about $38,000 annually.
Several of the teachers who are retiring were being paid annual salaries in the mid-$80,000 range.
The teachers are retiring under the provisions of the state’s Early Retirement Incen-tive Program (ERIP).
June 9 was the date when school district administrators had to report to the township the actual number of eligible teachers who had elected to avail themselves of retirement under ERIP.
Board member Robert Antonaccio chairs the panel’s finance committee. He said the original reduction of $566,000 was calculated as representing 1 cent on a projected 16-cent increase in the school tax rate. With the initial reduction, property owners would have seen a 15-cent increase in the K-8 school tax rate.
Given the increased number of teachers taking the early retirement option, Antonaccio said the board will ask the Township Council to reduce the coming year’s school tax increase from 15 cents to 13.75 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in order to reflect the 2.25-cent savings yielded from the additional $725,321.
With a 13.75-cent increase included in the 2004-05 school budget, the owner of a home assessed at $150,000 will pay about $206 more in K-8 school taxes in the coming year, instead of $225 more (with a 15-cent increase). The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 will pay about $412 more in K-8 school taxes in the coming year, instead of $450 more (with a 15-cent increase).
Some members of the Township Council previously expressed concern that the school district might be replacing experienced teachers with less experienced educators.
According to Antonaccio, the reverse is true and the district is gaining in more ways than financially by hiring recently graduated teachers who have been taught the curriculum mandated under the new federal No Child Left Behind Act.
School board officials also said the more experienced teachers would have had to receive new training to meet the criteria established by the federal program. That would have meant additional costs to the district, they said.
Antonaccio said the new hires will not necessarily be inexperienced educators. He said some seasoned teachers may be looking to move into the Howell school district from other districts.