New London School Board reviews early retirement policy for teachers

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

NEW LONDON ? It was a relatively short meeting for the New London School Board on Monday, with early retirement perhaps the most discussed topic of the evening.

With the district gearing up for another year, board secretary Jessica Boyer brought New London?s early retirement policy to the board?s attention for approval and to seek any changes the board wanted. Eligibility for early retirement benefits include the desire by a certified teaching staff member to retire, the staff member must have a minimum of 15 years of contracted service to the New London School District, or if the staff member is otherwise eligible to receive IPERS retirement benefits.

?I know we have at least two teachers who have inquired about early retirement benefits, which is why I brought this to you guys,? said Boyer. ?The policy states the settlement benefit for a full-time teacher is $15,000.?

The board did approve the policy.

?I think it?s a good thing for our staff,? said board member Jesse Howard.

Moving on to other matters, the board looked over another school policy concerning employee activity passes. According to the current policy, paid school employees will have the opportunity to receive a pass for themselves and one other person of their choice to attend school sponsored home activities.

According to school superintendent Chad Wahls, he advised that the board revamp the policy slightly.

?I would recommend that we add that for an employee to receive the pass, they have to volunteer to work at two events, at least,? said Wahls. ?I know sometimes it?s hard to find volunteers to work taking tickets or supervising during home games, so hopefully this will help with that a little bit.?

According to the board, it used to be required for staff members to work at home school activities like sporting events in order to receive the two passes, however because of past lack of enforcement, that part of the policy had gone by the wayside.

Wahls went on to say that he didn?t want to decrease staff attendance at school activities because he felt it improved student/staff relations. However, because there has been some level of difficulty in finding volunteers to help out at after school activities every year, he felt this would help meet some of those needs.

The addition to the policy was approved.

In other news the board:

? Approved the resignations of Hunter McIntosh and Nathan Mincks, special education associates.

? Approved the appointment of Aaron Brown, volunteer football coach.

Before adjourning from the meeting, Wahls also discussed his desire for the district to look at adding more entrepreneurial education for high school students. Wahls said the idea came to him after attending a work-related conference on the subject. The superintendent stated giving students the opportunity to earn school credit for real-world education and training through partnerships with local businesses might be a positive thing for New London?s education program.

While nothing on the topic was discussed in-depth on Monday, Wahls said he was actively researching the topic further and hoped that he would be able to introduce more information on the matter to the school board at a later date.

The next New London School Board meeting will be held on Monday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m., in the district?s board room.