By TARA HETTINGER
With looming budget cuts and an uncertain economy, the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. is hoping that offering a retirement incentive will get more upper level teachers to retire.
Deputy Superintendent Brad Snyder said even if those teachers are all replaced with new teachers, there is a $35,000 difference between the high point of the pay scale to the low point, which would yield savings.
So, Superintendent Bruce Hibbard made a recommendation to the school board Wednesday night that was very similar to the one he made in November that was shot down. That recommendation was to hire a consulting firm to come in, figure out what kind of incentive would get more people to retire and come up with a figure that would need to take advantage of that for the school district to save money in the end. That group, Indianapolis-based Educational Services Company, had completed work at Hibbard’s prior school corporation where he was the assistant superintendent. Hibbard said they saved the district hundreds of thousands of dollars by finding the best deal with health insurance.
Doug Cassman, consultant with the group, talked to the board, saying that the company has worked for a number of districts, including Indianapolis Public Schools, to increase retirements.
According to the proposed contract, Educational Services would get $200 an hour, with an estimated grand total between $3,500 and $4,500. The contract also states that overnight accommodations, mileage, meals and more are additional expenses if incurred.
At the last meeting, some board members were concerned with the cancellation clause, which did not allow NA-FC to cancel at any time like it allowed the company to do. The edited version allowed both sides to terminate the contract.
The board passed the motion, 6-1, with Vice President Lee Ann Wiseheart voting against. She said she felt like this was a job that could be done in-house.
After the meeting, Hibbard said if the given number of teachers needed to retire for it to be profitable to the district doesn’t choose to do so, the incentive becomes null and void. He said he hopes to have results from the consulting group by early February.
INSURANCE INCREASE
Snyder also informed the board that the joint insurance committee tentative agreement with the teachers’ association in an effort to save about $200,000 on a pending insurance increase was later retracted by the association.
He said to keep the district’s current carrier, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the district will have to pay a 13.25 percent increase, which equals more than $1.7 million a year. He said the agreement would have brought that down to about $1.5 million.
Snyder said that agreement included increasing the co-pay for a doctor’s office visit by $5, upping the co-pay for an emergency room visit from about $75 to about $150, eliminating the district’s wellness program that was ended during the meeting for non-union groups and a few other things.
He said the association didn’t give a reason to him as to why they retracted their agreement.
Snyder said he will go back to the association and see if another agreement can be made. However, he said in the meantime the district will have to pay the increased rate.
BOND ROLLOVER
Due to getting tax money collected by the county late, Snyder said bonds will have to be rolled over to the new year. He said this has been the norm for the district for the past 3 to 4 years.
He said this year he expects the interest to cost about $70,000 just to roll it over. Snyder said he hopes the district receives its tax settlement in March.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.
