By Tony Scotta

Lansing State Journal, January 22, 1994

The Lansing School District expects to save at least $6.1 million over the next 10 years thanks to another wave of early retirement incentives, official said Friday. By September, 121 school employees - many principals and top administrators - will retire under the plan, which is the second offered employees in the last year. Retirees will receive a payout equal to their 1993-94 salary for signing on to the incentive program. It will be paid in monthly installments over the next 10 years, in addition to pension benefits, official said. "This will have nowhere near the payoff that we had when we offered the incentive to teachers, but it will help," said Lansing Schools Superintendent Richard Halik. "Every little bit helps." "Last year, about 150 teachers, most at the top of their pay scale, retired under a similar incentive," Halik said. "About 100 of those jobs were replaced, usually with teachers with less seniority. That incentive saved the district more than $10 million," Halik said.

Last year, 152 staffers with enhanced benefits. Officials said about 100 were replaced.

This year, 121 school employees, many principals and top administrators, will retire by September, including:

3 of the superintendent’s support staffers.

20 administrators, such as principals and assistant principals.

22 secretaries.

21 custodians.

4 managers and supervisors.

2 instructional support specialists.

1 technical specialist.

0 teachers

School officials aimed the incentive at school administrators and other non-teachers, with hopes that at least 77 employees would sign on. That number represents an estimated $6.1 million in savings to the district. Because about 44 more employees signed on than expected, officials believe the district will save even more.