Cape schools to incentivize early notification of retirement

Cape Girardeau Public Schools Board of Education members approved increases in reimbursements for unused sick leave days upon an employee's retirement at their Monday, July 24, meeting.

The board also approved the continuation of reimbursing district employees $25 per day worked beyond the set maximum accumulation of sick leave days.

Brice Beck, deputy superintendent of K-12 Education, said district employees typically accrue 10 sick leave days and three personal leave days per school year. He said that unused sick days roll over to the next year, while unused personal leave days roll over as sick days.

Employees can accumulate a maximum of 140 unused sick leave days, Beck said, after which they start earning an additional $25 a day until they either use a sick day or reach the end of the school year at which point, they are reimbursed.

Beck said, previously, retiring employees were reimbursed the standard $25 per unused sick leave day, as long as they had 10 years of uninterrupted service within the district and notified the district at least 30 days in advance.

He said, under the updated policy employees could receive up to double that amount depending on how much advance notice they give. Beck said the amount of reimbursement is decided by a sliding scale starting at $50 for six months advance notice and decreases by $5 per month down to $25 for one month's notice.

He said an employee that has accumulated the maximum of 140 sick leave days would receive $7,000 in reimbursement after they retire and added the payout is contingent upon retirement not resignation.

Beck said the rationale for implementing the new policy is to incentivize early notice of retirement. He said more notice, especially regarding certified teachers, increases the opportunity to find a "highly qualified" replacement.

"The search for teachers is so competitive, districts need to start interviewing the field as soon as possible," Beck said. "We're hoping that increasing the sliding scale to double the rate will essentially give us double the notice so we can try to get the best applicant pool as early as possible to replace our certified and classified staff members when we need to."

Beck said the sliding scale allows the district to start seeking to fill vacancies for the next school year as early as the previous November. He said this is "very important" in terms of reaching out to student teachers soon to graduate from university, who would likely have already been hired if the district waited till April.

Howard Benyon, district superintendent, added the new policy also helps with teacher retention. He said teachers might stay another year or two in order to reach the maximum number unused sick leave days and get the full $7,000 in incentives when they retire.

Other business

The board authorized Benyon to negotiate a contract with Roth Restaurant Supply for a double-stack oven for an amount not to exceed $52,000.

Josh Crowell, assistant superintendent of support services, said the new oven will replace one at Terry W. Kitchen Junior High School that has reached it life expectancy and needs to be replaced. He said three bids were received, and Roth Restaurant Supply was the lowest bid. In addition, the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has awarded the district with a grant that will cover $23,500 of the cost.

Board members designated James Russell as coordinator of the Assessment (testing) Program; Brian Payne as Title IX coordinator; Mandy Keys as Section 504 and Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, liaison for Homeless Children and Youth, liaison for Migrant, ELL, Immigrant and Refugee Children and Youth and educational liaison for children in foster care; and Chris Jauch as the district's Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act person.