Not planning on retiring...until the year 2525. You may ignore this edition of CAT Tracks...

Well, the clock is ticking on submitting your letter in order to receive the maximum benefit provided by Section 4.24 of the newly ratified Contract between the Cairo BOE and the CAT.

The three teachers retiring on June 3, 2009...have already submitted their letters. The District will "bump" their salary for the 2008-09 School Year by whatever dollar amount (that when added to their "Step + $605") will provide them with a total 6% raise over their salary for the 2007-08 School Year. This "bump" (along with the employee's mandated share of TRS) will be funded from the "severance bonus" earned from the employee's "20 years or more of service to CSD #1" (plus any unused sick leave NOT applied toward retirement.) This "bump" will be paid to the employee so as to be reflected in their salary for the just concluding school year so that it will increase their average salary for the past four years...the average salary used by the Teachers Retirement System to calculate their yearly/monthly retirement benefit...for the rest of their lives. (Any remaining "severance bonus" earned by the employee will be paid in a lump sum "post retirement" - i.e. you get the remaining dollars of your bonus...it just doesn't count toward retirement.)

Head starting to swim...

Well, Penny, Velma, and Regina do not have to do a thing...except to smell the roses. (Y'all did remember to buy roses didn't you???) The details are being worked out for them as I type.

Did I just hear you scream..."What about me???"

Well, first things first...

To be (currently) eligible for the "Retirement Distribution" outlined in Section 2.24:

• You must meet the eligibility requirements of Section 4.23 - i.e. you must have provided at least twenty (20) years of service to Cairo School District Number One. (Your years need not be consecutive.) For the purposes of this benefit, you would INCLUDE all years up to and including your final year of employment. Example: Planning to retire at the end of the 2010-2011 School Year...currently have 18 years of service to CSD #1...you're a winner. Write that letter!

  Conversely...Planning to retire at the end of the 2010-2011 School Year...currently have 17 years of service to CSD #1...you lose! You need to give some serious thought to postponing your retirement date...it's the fiscally responsible thing to do!

  Not anywhere close to the 20-year threshold...and have no plans to try. Forgetaboutit...pitch this edition of CAT Tracks! Oh, you can still retire from CSD #1, you simply do NOT qualify for the benefit...will have your yearly/monthly retirement benefit calculated by TRS based upon your average salary for your best four consecutive years during your final ten years of employment...in Cairo or elsewhere.

• You must be eligible for "full retirement without Early Retirement Option (ERO) expense or other penalty to the District"?

  This means that you must have one of the following at the time of your retirement:

  • You must be 60 years of age, or

  • You must have 35 years of credible service to TRS (which can include unused sick leave.)

  It bears repeating...you can NOT use the "Early Retirement Option" (ERO) to "escape" earlier. (Oh, you CAN still use ERO, but you would FORFEIT any "severance bonus" under the provisions of Section 4.23...say "Bye" to that $300 per year per length of service to CSD #1.)

• You must be retiring by the end of the 2011-2012 School Year.

  As stated previously, your TRS retirement benefit is based upon your best four consecutive years of average salary...usually your final four years of teaching. The other years...like they never happened! Therefore, to receive the maximum benefit, you want to apply your "severance bonus" (to the extent possible) to the final four years of your employment.

  It's too late for any years previous to the 2008-09 School year...they are etched in stone at TRS headquarters. However, "this year"...the fiscal year...does not end until June 30th. And then there is next year, and the next year, and the next year. THAT is what brings us (if you were counting) to June 2012. (Leaving before 2012? No problem...just less bang for your severance buck.)

  By the way, planning to retire in 2013 or thereafter...don't panic. You just can't start the process this year. For instance, if you plan to retire in 2013, you would write your retirement letter next year...the "2014 folks", the year after...etc.

Which is it that your mind is doing right now...the backstroke or the butterfly???

Hey, we're there...

• You must submit your "irrevocable written notice to retire". In plain English, you must write a letter telling the BOE the exact date that you plan to retire (e.g. effective the end of the 2009-10 School Year)...AND you can NOT change your mind!!!

That's it!

Simple as a piece of cake...right??? (Okay, if you are lucky, your colleagues will provide the cake - if not roses - as they celebrate your well-earned happiness. If they don't, it's the "jealousy thing"...thumb your noses at them on your way out the door!)

While you are taking a mental break, employing the time-honored dog, er, cat paddle, let me snap you back to the present...

All of the above can be made purrfectly clear...

A "retirement-planning in-service" will be held on Wednesday morning...conducted by our IEA UniServ Director, Jim Tammen. District Payroll Supervisor Shavonna Shipley is also scheduled to be present.

Jim has a computer program that will do all the calculations...using YOUR numbers...to show you exactly how you would benefit from this new Contract provision.

So..if you are having doubts about if/when to retire, the "Great and Wonderful Wizard of Ahhhhs" shall step out from behind the curtain and provide guidance to insure your safe arrival at the Emerald City of Retirement!!!

Yes, we know that it is "turn in the keys" day. There is no "beginning time" for the "retirement in-service"...first come, first serve. There will be an "ending time" of 10:30 a.m. (If you are running late, call, and "Mr. Wonderful" will make every effort to accommodate you. He's just that way!)