Oakland Unified School District hopes to get scores of staff to resign at the end of the school year as a cost-saving measure, part of a package to cut $100 million from next year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the board approved an early retirement incentive plan<\/a> to encourage staff older than 55 who have worked for OUSD for at least five years to resign by June 30, 2026. The district will offer\u00a0 75% of an employee\u2019s final salary toward a tax-sheltered annuity over a five-year period. It\u2019s the first time the district has offered the plan in 15 years.<\/p>\n Five school board directors supported the plan, while Mike Hutchinson, who represents District 4, voted against it. Clifford Thompson, who represents District 7, was absent.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t addressed our real financial crisis,\u201d Hutchinson said during the Nov. 12 school board meeting. \u201cInstead we\u2019re doing things like hiring freezes and trying to incentivize losing our most experienced staff.\u201d<\/p>\n The savings would be realized by replacing senior employees who have higher salaries with lower level employees with lower salaries, or by not replacing those positions at all, said Dennis Yu, an executive with Public Agency Retirement Services, an organization that helps public institutions save money through alternative retirement plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n In total, 1,066 OUSD employees would be eligible for the plan, with an average salary of $82,149. If a quarter of those staff take the early retirement option, the district could save millions of dollars, depending on how many roles are replaced. If 80% are replaced, the district could save $5.6 million in the first year, and $22.6 million over five years, according to Public Agency Retirement Services projections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eligible employees must submit their irreversible resignation by Jan. 29. Although the board adopted the plan, if it doesn\u2019t help meet the district\u2019s financial goals, it could be rescinded.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d conduct a fiscal analysis to determine whether or not there would be enough savings as a result of those retirements to justify this program,\u201d Yu told the board. \u201cSo the board has the ability to see how many folks take advantage and what the savings would be before you decide whether or not you want to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n After receiving those calculations, the board will decide in February whether it makes financial sense to implement the early retirement plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n $100 million in cuts ahead<\/p>\n Next Wednesday, Nov. 19, district staff are expected to present budget scenarios for the board to consider that would each allow OUSD to trim at least $100 million, or about 10%, from the district\u2019s 2026-2027 budget. In a harsh letter to district leadership<\/a> on Nov. 1, county superintendent Alysse Castro begrudgingly approved the budget plan the board put together last month.<\/p>\n \u201cAt its October meeting, the board continued a troubling \u2014 and troublingly familiar \u2014 pattern of deferring difficult decisions,\u201d Castro wrote. \u201cRather than adopting a concrete, time-bound plan to address significant budget shortfalls, the board approved what can best be described as a plan to have a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Board president Jennifer Brouhard pushed back against that language in remarks Wednesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cThe board approved a resolution directing district leadership to develop budget scenarios using parameters that reflected our shared vision and priorities \u2014 not a plan to make a plan, but a framework to guide real decisions,\u201d Brouhard said. \u201cThe hard budget decisions ahead are the cumulative results of choices made by previous boards and district leaders over decades, but they are up to us to resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n