Hanging out at school

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- As the last school year wound down, Fran Tankovich dreaded the thought that she would no longer be teaching her high school art students, who ranged from natural talents to diamonds in the rough.

At 60, she faced mandatory retirement because she had signed up for a deferred retirement program five years ago. At the time she enrolled, it meant more than $100,000 in extra pension money, an offer she called "too good to refuse."

But Florida lawmakers during the spring gave Tankovich and hundreds of other teachers facing the same situation another chance to remain in the classroom and keep their extra retirement benefits. The Florida Legislature, which desperately needed to find more teachers because of class size limits approved by voters last fall, allowed school districts to extend the state's Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP, for another three years. Gov. Jeb Bush signed it into law in June.

About 250 teachers opted to keep working this academic year under DROP, some for the love of the job, some for the money, or both.

Hundreds of other teachers nearing retirement age were able to return this year under an alternative retirement plan, the Second Career retirement program, that allowed them to return and collect their pension while working.

Tankovich wanted to keep teaching, but would not have stayed if Broward County hadn't offered the extension. She couldn't risk losing the extra money.

"It was more money than you could save as a teacher," she said.

Tankovich, a professional artist and teacher for 36 years, is one of five instructors and a guidance counselor who returned to J.P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs, just north of Fort Lauderdale.

"I'm at the height of my career," Tankovich said. "I still have more in me to pass on to the students."

Unless lawmakers grant another extension in three years, teachers returning under the DROP will have to retire at that time or forfeit their extra pension payments. The legislature passed the original program to give teachers and other state and county workers the option of working five years past their retirement age -- 62 or 30 years of service -- while their retirement benefits accumulate and earn interest.

'Not burned out'

For George Williams, who has taught American history at Taravella for 22 years, the financial incentive and his desire to keep teaching weighed equally in his decision to stay.

"Basically, at the age of 62 I am not yet burned out," said Williams, who this fall started his 40th year of teaching. "I don't get out of bed every day and say 'Whoopee' ... but I do enjoy it."

Education commissioner Jim Horne said the decision to defer retirement needs to be mutual: the school district must need and want the teachers to stay. "With a shortage out there and some good and professional teachers that want to stay, we need to accommodate that as best as we can," he said.

When the governor signed the extension, he specifically mentioned Hazel Haley, an 86-year-old English teacher who's the longest-serving teacher in Florida. Haley has taught for 66 years, nearly 64 of them at Lakeland High School, where she graduated in 1933.

"That was a very pragmatic move because of the teacher shortage," Haley said. "It worked both ways for teachers who wanted to come back and the fact that they were needed."

Ultimately, the district decides to either sign on to the new provision or maintain the status quo. The state has not compiled data on how many counties offered the extension.

For Broward, the nation's fifth-largest school district, the decision was easy.

The county saw its student population increase by 9,000 to 279,000 students at the start of its academic year Aug. 25. The county needed to hire about 2,000 new teachers to handle the growth and accommodate the class size requirements. About 40 teachers who faced imminent retirement opted to remain in the classroom.

"I can sit here with confidence and say it's good for our school," said Taravella principal Shawn Cerra. "They're excellent teachers. They care about what they do."

During the first week of school, Tankovich asked the 33 students in her second-period Drawing I class to do a freestyle drawing of their hand -- every curve, line and knuckle. She walked among the students, gently suggesting ways to approach the assignment and prodding them to do their best.

"Some of you are geniuses and have been drawing forever, and some of you, it's your first time drawing and you're scared," she said. "I want you to show me how good you are."

Most of the students in this class are freshman, though there are a few who have had Tankovich before.

Monique Browette, a senior who took a sculpture class with Tankovich her freshman year, was relieved when Tankovich was able to continue teaching. "She lets you be an individual," she said. "I wouldn't want any other teacher."

For Tankovich, the opportunity to keep inspiring future artists outweighs the perks of a quiet retirement.

"I think the kids benefit from my knowledge and my experience and I enjoy the students immensely," she said. "They're so full of life. They come up with brilliant ideas. It keeps me young. It keeps me on my toes."