With between 80 and 85 percent of the school district’s budget being salaries and benefits, Oxford Schools district administrators decided that offering teachers an earlier buyout option would be a smart way to save some cash over the years.
“The district will definitely save money with the buyout,” said personnel director Nancy Kammer. “Most of the teachers who will qualify for this are at the top of the pay scale.”
In this year’s early buyout option, Oxford teachers with at least 10 years in the district can choose to take a lump sum of $34,200, distributed in monthly payments over the next four years, in exchange for ending their contracts with the district. Any teachers who choose to take the option next year would receive $26,000. No additional benefits, such as insurance, are offered with this plan.
The district saves money by either not replacing the teacher or hiring in a new teacher at a lower salary.
“There are some people who have seemed receptive to this,” said Kammer.
Oxford Schools must have six teachers choose the option this year in order to offer the plan at all. Twelve teachers total are necessary over the two years.
“It doesn’t matter if we have eight this year and only four the next, but we need at least six this year,” said Kammer.
There is no cap at the moment on the number of teachers who can opt for the buyout, and officials are not considering one at the moment.
“I believe the more who opt for this, the more money we will save,” explained Kammer, “so we haven’t put a limit.”
If administrators offer the buyout for only this year, have only six teachers accept and must rehire all of the positions, the district will still save around $1 million over the four year period. At the other end, if the two year minimum of 12 teachers is met, without having to replace any of the positions, the district will save around $2 million over the next four years.
“The teachers have through May 1 to decide,” said Kammer. “This could save the district a good amount of money.”
When considering other ways to cutback on the budget, Assistant Superintendent Ron Franey said some of the suggestions made by school committees have included limiting supplies and closing the school buildings earlier in the day. He added that although cutting back on paper usage sounds cost effective, the savings would negligible.
“In all honesty that really doesn’t constitute a large number of deductions,” Franey stated.
Also, closing the school buildings earlier each day would save some funds, but Franey sees the district paying a higher cost in other areas.
“We still consider these community buildings and to close them early, while it may be good to save some dollars, is not good for the community moral,” he explained. “People use these buildings, and though it may be a good idea, it’s not where we’re at for the moment.”
In the end, Franey stated that staffing is the district’s highest cost and officials are looking for ways to cutback in this area. He added that a budget cutback proposal will go before the board at the end of April.