Burlington, IA – The Burlington School Board has agreed to offer an early retirement incentive to teachers and administrators.
The district would save money by replacing veteran teachers and their higher salaries with less experienced teachers at a lower pay grade.
Superintendent Jane Evans says the incentive can be granted to a maximum of 18 employees, with no more than two of them being administrators.
"The first time that teachers or administrators can submit their requests to retire early is January 4," says Evans.
The Burlington School Board reviewed seven options before deciding on Option 7.
That provides certified staff with $200 for each of their first 19 years of employment and $400 for each year beyond that.
They would also receive $75 for each day of unused sick leave.
A teacher, for example, with 30 years of experience and 30 days of unused sick leave would receive about $10,000.
Building Sale
The sale of Burlington's former Oak Street Middle School is nearly complete.
The school board has given final approval for the district to sell the building to the owner of Southeast Iowa Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.
Evans says all that remains is for the closing to be completed.
The city has already rezoned the property for light commercial use while the district used a public auction to get rid of excess equipment and supplies.
The new Aldo Leopold Middle School meant Oak Street was no longer needed.
Safe Room
The district is also moving ahead with plans to build a multi-purpose room at its high school.
Evans says the district received an $850,000 combined state and federal grant for the construction of a safe-room.
"We plan to use it for wrestling and our cardio machines," says Evans, "unless there would be a tornado or a tornado drill. It would then be used to keep all of the students and staff safe."
Evans says the safe room is currently in the design phase.
She hopes construction can get underway this spring.
Evans says the entire project is expected to cost about $1.2-million. The district will provide about $350,000 from its infrastructure fund.