Teachers like early buyout plan in Gwinn

Journal Staff Writer

GWINN – A money-saving tactic by the Gwinn school district has gone above expectations.

The district had expected about 20 faculty to take advantage of a severance buyout offered earlier this year. The plan was to offer staff with 10 years or more of seniority an incentive to retire. But when the March 19 deadline arrived, 28 educators, two administrators and one support staff had signed up. With more people participating, the buyout will save the district nearly $5 million, about $3 million more than the district had expected. The district intends to fill all the vacancies except for one teaching position, Superintendent Mike Maino said.

The severance offer was one of the final actions of a three-year budget recovery plan. The plan is designed to offer one year’s salary spread out over eight years. The payments would be monthly; the total amount received over the eight-year-period is capped at $45,000. The district would save money by hiring new teachers in their first few years of teaching. Maino said the increased savings could mean some positive changes in the district in the near future. He will give an update on the savings at a special school board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Gwinn High School library.

The buyout is being managed by Educators Preferred Corporation, a company that coordinates severance and retirement plans for schools and municipalities across the nation. EPC was in the Gwinn district the week of Feb. 1 to counsel more than 30 candidates about the offer. EPC’s role is to process the paperwork and schedule the payments of the plan to the teachers. Maino said this service comes at a cost of $225 per year for each teacher involved. Maino said this cost is minimal when considering the amount of time and effort the district would need to expend to maintain the plan.

The district is required to pay the amount for the eight-year plan to EPC over the first four years, Maino said, but the savings the first year will still be more than $450,000. These first-year savings could nearly balance the remaining budget deficit of around $500,000. The deficit once stood at $3.5 million soon after the closing of Sawyer Air Force Base in September 1995. Other major maneuvers by the district during the plan include bus route consolidation, trimming of half-time and aide positions, reductions in athletics and food services.