School board authorizes voluntary early retirement for 18 teachers

Eighteen teachers with a combined total of 523 years experience with the Newton Community School District will take advantage of the new voluntary early retirement program, which was adopted about two months ago by the school board in an effort to reduce operating costs to the district’s general fund.

Included among those retiring are principals Jim Gilbert of Aurora Heights Elementary and Lisa Sharp of Berg Middle School. Every school building apart from WEST Academy has at least one teacher retiring from the district; the buildings with the most retirees are the middle school and high school.

NCSD Director of Human Resources Laura Selover presented the list of retiring teachers to the school board for approval on Dec. 13. School district documents state the retirement date for the teachers will be effective May 27, 2022, except for Gilbert and Sharp, who will be retired by June 10 and June 17, respectively.

Robyn Friedman, president of the NCSD Board of Education, said it was a “really, really tough screen to see.”

During its Oct. 25 meeting, the Newton school board adopted the voluntary early retirement plan. Although it was presented as a way to reduce costs to the district’s general fund — a large majority of which is comprised of teachers’ salaries — it was still unknown the exact cost savings of this incentive.

In order to qualify for early retirement, licensed staff must be above the age of 55 and have at least 15 years experience with the district. Currently, Newton has 39 licensed staff who are able to qualify for the program, which is limited to 20 retirees with a 403B contribution of $50,000 each.

Tim Bloom, director of business services for the Newton Community School District, said $1 million was budgeted for the early retirement plan. He described the program as a “budgetary tool” to reduce general fund expenditures. Bloom told Newton News the district wants to be proactive now to afford cost increases.

And also lessen the need of reductions later. Currently, the school’s financial position has improved thanks in part to the federal stimulus or what is better known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds.

About 21 full-time equivalent staff have been budgeted as past of the Newton school district’s ESSER III plan. These positions are covered for the next two years, but after that they will revert to general fund operating costs. That is where the voluntary early retirement plan fits in.

“We are hoping to not fill all the positions of the people who elect to retire or rehire staff at a lower cost to the general fund — that is the savings,” Bloom said in October. “Each open position will be reviewed prior to the hiring process to see if the opening could be absorbed or done differently with the current staff.”

Much of the savings also depends on who retires. Overall, Bloom said the plan benefits the district by allowing it to plan for the following year. Timing is also crucial. All Iowa schools are in competition to get the best talented teachers from colleges and universities. The longer Newton waits, less candidates are available.

“By doing this before earlier than in the past, we will have a better opportunity to get spring graduates or other people looking to move to the Newton area for a job to get their applications in before other schools post positions for next year,” Bloom said.

Here is the list of teachers opting in to the voluntary early retirement program:

• Jody Barr, a special education teacher at Berg Middle School, was hired Aug. 26, 1988. Of Barr’s 34 years in education, 31 years were with Newton schools.

• Mary Bartels, a first grade teacher at Emerson Hough Elementary, was hired Aug. 22, 1989. Bartels spent all 33 years of education in Newton schools.

• Andy Cazett, a sixth grade teacher at Berg Middle School, was hired Aug. 19, 1996. Of Cazett’s 32 years in education, 26 years were spent in Newton schools.

• Marla Cory, a kindergarten teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary, was hired Aug. 17, 1984. All 38 years of teaching were spent at Newton schools.

• Ed Ergenbright, a special education teacher for Newton High School, was hired Aug. 25, 1986. Of his 37 years in education, 36 years were spent in Newton.

• Julie Francisco, a Title 1 teacher for Thomas Jefferson Elementary, was hired Aug. 22, 1989. Of Francisco’s 38 years in education, 33 were spent in Newton.

• Jim Gilbert, principal of Aurora Heights Elementary, was hired July 28, 2003. Of his 41 years in education, Gilbert spent 19 years in Newton schools.

• Alison Grier, a foreign language teacher at Newton High School, was hired Aug. 25, 1987. Of Grier’s 37 years in education, 35 years were spent in Newton.

• Darren Hurt, an art teacher at Berg Middle School, was hired Aug. 26, 1983. All 39 years of Hurt’s career in education were spent in Newton schools.

• Dave Kalkhoff, an assistant principal at Newton High School, was hired July 31, 2000. Of Kalkhoff’s 38 years in education, 22 years were with Newton schools.

• Lorraine Kalkhoff, a health teacher at Berg Middle School, was hired Aug. 17, 2000. Of Kalkhoff’s 31 years in education, 22 years were with Newton schools.

• Mark Law, a fifth grade teacher at Berg Middle School, was hired Aug. 16, 1999. Of Law’s 37 years in education, 23 years were with Newton schools.

• Ann Nelson, a library media coordinator at Newton High School, was hired Aug. 25, 1992. Of Nelson’s 38 years in education, 30 years were with Newton schools.

• Cheryl O’Roake, a family consumer science teacher at Newton High School, was hired Aug. 15, 2003. Of O’Roake’s 34 years in education, 19 were with Newton schools.

• Tamara Parriott, a Title 1 teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary, was hired Aug. 16, 1999. Parriott spent all 23 years of education at Newton schools.

• Deborah Rose, a math teacher at Newton High School, was hired Aug. 26, 1988. Rose spent all 34 years of education at Newton schools.

• Lisa Sharp, principal of Berg Middle School, was hired Aug. 16, 2001. Of Sharp’s 36 years in education, 21 years were spent in Newton schools.

• Susan Sheeks, a fourth grade teacher at Aurora Heights Elementary, was hired Aug. 26, 1983. Of Sheeks’ 40 years in education, 39 years were with Newton.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com