McKeesport+Area's+early+retirement+incentive+saves+jobs

=By Mary Niederberger= =//Published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette//= =//6/8/11//= = = = = =An early retirement incentive that prompted 35 McKeesport Area teachers to retire has reduced the number of district employees slated for furlough from 46 to one.= =The board held a special meeting Tuesday to approve the retirements and the furlough of one employee -- an itinerant art teacher.= =Superintendent Timothy Gabauer said the savings from the 35 teacher retirees and other retirements in the district staved off the need for most of the furloughs.= =In addition to the art teacher, a groundskeeper was furloughed but then immediately rehired by the district as a custodian.= =Mr. Gabauer said all of the positions slated to be eliminated when the board approved its $57.5 million preliminary budget on May 25 will still be eliminated.= =But because of the dual certifications of a number of teachers, some staff members were reassigned to avoid laying off others, Mr. Gabauer said.= =The early retirement incentive offered teachers the choice of either health care for 10 years or until age 65 or a one-time $30,000 payment.= =Mr. Gabauer said the district will still eliminate its tutoring programs, but the tutors are private contractors and not district employees. Joan Burns, vice president of the teachers union and a kindergarten teacher who is taking advantage of the retirement incentive called the situation a "win-win."= ="We have a retirement incentive and we are saving jobs at the same time," she said.= = Read more: [] =

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