Teachers granted early retirement

Rippey building sold for $3

By AUDREY INGRAM
a.ingram@carrollspaper.com

The Greene County Community School District board of education accepted 10 voluntary retirements last week.

Retirees include:

• Diane Kunzler, art, 27 years;

• David Bohnet, middle school social studies and English, various coaching, 26 years;

• Gerry Stein, science, various coaching, 29 years;

• Sherri Schwaller, third grade and kindergarten, 28 years;

• Janice Johnston, elementary, three-year-old to third grades, 28 years;

• Michele Hardin, title teacher, elementary and middle school, 33 years;

• Cathy Springer, elementary associate and alternative school associate, 19 years;

• Jane Wampler, title and special education associate, 26 years;

• Judy Turner, special education associate, computer lab and study hall monitor, media center associate, 14 years;

• Eric Ernst, elementary, 28 years.

The early retirement incentive package is 45 percent of the individuals’ current base salaries, to be paid out in two payments.

Early retirement benefits are paid out of the district’s management fund. The incentive is designed to help a district cut costs to the general fund — the fund that pays salaries — because the teaching positions can be filled by younger, less experienced, and therefore less expensive, candidates.

If the district filled all seven teaching positions with college graduates, the district could save $140,000 next year. However, school officials cite the probability of hiring all recent graduates as “unlikely.”

The board has not yet decided if it will refill all 10 positions.

In other action, the school board approved the sale of its building in Rippey to the city of Rippey for $3.

The building was closed in 2012 and all portions except the gym were demolished last fall.

The district will continue to use the gym for no charge, but it will pay utilities and snow removal costs. The city will pay mowing costs.

The city has no plans for the gym at this time, board secretary Brenda Muir relayed. City officials preferred to maintain the building as a city property rather than risk the intentions of another buyer, she added.

The school board also approved the purchase of routers, antenna and a data plan to provide wireless Internet access on activity buses.

The Wi-Fi access will help students do homework on rides to and from sports games or other extracurricular competitions.

The district plans to put the Wi-Fi on its two main activity buses. On busy nights, the district runs up to four buses to different events.

The equipment will cost $1,346. The data and device fee through the district’s contract with U.S. Cellular will be $1,800 per year.

The board approved a 20-gigabyte shared data plan. The plan is per month, shared between the two buses.

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