Ferguson-Florissant school district to offer early retirements, cut expenses
The Ferguson-Florissant School District will offer early retirements to help trim overspending.
The board of education approved the package last night. It expects as many as 90 employees to participate, saving $25,000 per worker, or more than $2 million total.
CFO Mick Willis said the district projects it will spend about $6 million more than its $130 million in revenues this school year, thanks, in part, to a $4.5 million loss in tax revenue last year.
The district has deficit spent for the last two years, Willis said, but is aiming to align revenues and expenses next year.
A district spokeswoman said the early retirements will help.
“Dipping into our reserves is not something we can do indefinitely,” said spokeswoman Shantana Stewart. “This plan is a plus because it allows the district to reward retiring staff members for their service.”
The 12,000-student district hopes to replace the retirees, Stewart said. Both teachers and non-certificated employees are eligible. Retirees will finish the school year, and retire this coming summer.
The district will pay health insurance and dental insurance premiums, or cash instead of paid premiums, for up to three years for employees who give notice by Nov. 1.
Willis said the district has also found savings in insurance plans, and made cuts to large purchases like computers and equipment.
A lot of companies are doing this now to dump the high-wage employees and replace them with entry-level — or not replace them at all. I just took a buyout from the folks I was working for. As soon as my money hits the account I’m headed to Florida.
My guess is that almost every district will be offering an incentive to retire. Three years of insurance does not seem like a big enough incentive, however. Ferguson-Florissant should have offered more. They are only going to get people who were going to retire this year anyway to take the offer.
This is the absolute worst thing they could do, way to go Ferg-Flor! Get all your older, seasoned, veteran teachers to retire. The quality of the education you provide will suffer if this works the way you want it to.