District, teachers mull early retirement plan

Mike Swanson

Twenty-seven teachers in the Laguna Beach Unified School District

qualify for an early retirement plan proposed by the school board

last week that could provide relief, albeit minor, to the school

budget crisis.

The plan, administered by Keenan and Associates, must be accepted

by at least six of the eligible teachers by April 30 for the program

to be feasible to Keenan and to the district, Asst. Supt. Steven

Keller suspects.

“This is a one-time situation,” he said. “It could be another five

years before another offer comes along, and I think it’s well worth

being looked at by qualifying teachers, but definitely isn’t a

one-size-fits-all program.”

Dawn Mirone, president of the Laguna Beach Unified Faculty Assn.,

sees positives and negatives if both sides agree to the proposal.

“If the minimum number of teachers accept who are at the maximum

[salary] level, that would save nearly half a million dollars, which

pays for a lot of teachers,” she said.

High school English teacher Anita Dobbs, who has been with the

district for 25 years and has a master’s degree, is one teacher at

the top of the salary scale mulling early retirement. Other than a

two-year break to raise her children, Dobbs has been teaching in

Laguna Beach since 1971.

“As I think about retiring,” she said, “I’ve honestly thought, ‘It

is kind of time for me to go.’ I am tired, and there are some sharp

young teachers out there.”

While Mirone said she’d hate to see good veteran teachers go, the

caliber of teachers younger than 55 in the district is extremely

high. She said the majority have master’s degrees or experience in

other districts.

Representatives from the district’s teachers, administration and a

school board member met with Keenan and Associates and Phase II

Systems on March 18 to review retirement programs offered by each.

The representatives from each respective group chose Keenan and

Associates based on its lower minimum number of teachers required to

accept early retirement.

Keenan and Phase II Systems’ proposals both had a minimum age

requirement of 55 and a minimum of five years in the district.

“I’ve heard from one teacher in this group that the potential she

has to assist in the budget crisis, and to allow some of these

awesome new teachers to keep their jobs, could influence her decision

[to retire],” Keller said. “That almost brings tears to my eyes.”