The Gilmore City-Bradgate Community School District Board of Directors offers a voluntary retirement incentive to its certified teaching staff, support staff, and administrators under the following terms and conditions:

It is the intention of the Gilmore City-Bradgate Community School District to provide a supplemental benefit as a consequence of early retirement, which benefit can be elected by the employee after that employee’s fifty-fifth (55) birthday.

It is the expressed intent of this Board of Directors to not create any age discrimination in this policy, but rather to reward years of service by the employee to the district.

I.  For benefits to be payable, the employee must:

1. Have reached the age 55 or will reach age 55 before July 1 of the year when the early retirement would commence.

2. Be currently under contract and in good standing with the district; and not have received a notice of staff reduction or notice of termination prior to submitting the resignation and election for early retirement.

3. Have completed a total of fifteen (15) years of service to the Gilmore City-Bradgate Community School District.  The last ten (10) years of service must be continuous employment.

4. Submit an application for the program prior to March 1 of the calendar year when the early retirement program would commence.

5. Submit a written resignation from their current contract effective at the end of the current school year.

6. Be currently under a full-time contract.

• If the Board of Directors rejects the application for early retirement benefits, the resignation shall be considered void.  A rejection of the request must be program related for the person determined eligible for early retirement and shall state the reasons.
• An employee’s application for early retirement benefits on the form provided is, in itself, not a resignation of a contract with the school district.  However, acceptance by the Board of an employee’s resignation and application for early retirement will be considered a voluntary resignation and termination of his/her continuing contract.
• The benefits granted under this policy shall be limited to health insurance costs.

II.        Voluntary Early Retirement Benefits:

The benefits shall be based upon the employee’s current salary schedule or annual wage.

An employee who elects to participate in this program will become a retired employee and will be entitled to all rights and privileges of such a retiree under applicable law and the policies of the Gilmore City-Bradgate Community School District.

1. Certified Teacher (contracted for full-time teaching contract)

An early retiring certified teacher will receive as a retirement incentive the difference between the BA base and their current annual full-time equivalent salary less extended contract and supplemental pay amounts.

Administrators (contracted for full-time administrative contract)

Administrator benefits will be determined by using their current salary less extended contract and supplemental pay amounts, times 1.5% (.015), multiplied by the total number of years the administrator has served as an administrator in the Gilmore City-Bradgate Community School District.

Full-Time Support Staff (contracted for forty (40) hours or more per week)

Full-time support staff early retirement incentives will be based on the employee’s unused accumulated sick leave up to a maximum of 90 days.  The accumulated sick leave shall be multiplied by the employee’s actual per rate of pay for the last year of employment.

2. Extra Years of Insurance Premiums

In addition to the above, full time employees will receive an incentive equivalent to one year (first year after retirement) insurance premium plus one additional year (five percent, 5%, increase of the first year after retirement). This incentive will be based on the benefit which the individual was entitled while employed at Gilmore City-Bradgate CSD.

III.  Payment of Benefits

The dollar amount of the benefit is to be used to continue paying the employee’s premium for the District’s group health insurance program.  Such payments will continue until the dollar amount of the early retirement incentive has been used in its entirety.

• Retiring employees under this program shall be allowed to continue participation in the district’s health insurance programs so long as eligible.  This is at the employee’s cost.

• In the event of the death of the employee prior to payment of the early retirement incentive but after the employee’s retirement has begun, the incentive will be paid to the designated beneficiary in one lump sum payment.  In the event no beneficiary is designated, the incentive will be paid to the employee’s estate in one lump sum payment.

• No interest shall be paid by the District on any accumulated or unused retirement benefit.

• Nothing herein shall limit the district’s ability to change the terms of its existing health and major medical insurance coverage and this policy in no way guarantees a participating employee any certain level of benefits during the employee’s participation in the insurance benefits portion of the early retirement program.

• The Board, in its discretion, may consider early retirement applications that do not meet the general provisions of this policy if special circumstances exist.  It shall be within the discretion of the Board to determine whether special circumstances exist.

• In the event the District should cease to exist as a school corporation, the funds authorized above shall be disbursed in totality to the employee based on the Cash amount or the remaining insurance premiums based upon the rates in effect 60 days prior to the effective date of the change of the school district status.

• The Board has complete discretion to offer or not to offer an early retirement plan for employees.  The Board may discontinue the school district’s early retirement plan at anytime.  The Board will review the policy each year before January 1 and decide whether or not to renew the policy for the following school year.

• The Board, in its discretion, will limit the number of early retirement applications processed each to four (4) a year.  This determination will be made on a first come, first served basis.  It will greatly benefit early retirement applicants who process their applications early in the school year.

Approved 02-17-92                  
Reviewed 01-16-95; 01-20-97; 11-17-03; 02-20-06; 02-19-07; 11-17-08; 07-11-11; 09-17-12; 04-06-16
Revised 02-21-95; 02-18-97; 12-15-03; 03-20-06; 08-15-11; 10-15-12