I. Eligibility for Early Retirement Plan
The school district offers an Early Retirement Plan for full-time support staff employees. Full-time support staff employees are support staff employees who are eligible for full insurance coverage under the requirements of the insurer and who are currently performing their assigned duties within the school district. A support staff employee is eligible to participate in the Early Retirement Plan under the following terms:
A. The number of applications for the Early Retirement Plan will be limited to no more than five (5) for a given fiscal year, unless the Board chooses to allow more than five (5).
B. The Early Retirement Plan will be available to a support staff employee who is fifty-five (55) years of age by the start of the next school year.
C. The Early Retirement Plan will be available to those who have completed their most recent ten (10) consecutive years of service in the Red Oak Community School District.
D. The employee shall submit an application for the plan on or before January 30 of the current school year, at the Board’s discretion.
E. The employee shall submit a written resignation resigning from the existing contract. The resignation may be contingent upon approval by the board of participation in the
voluntary early retirement program.
F. All applications for the Early Retirement Plan will be considered not later than the first regular board meeting in February, and if more than the designated number allowed in
Section A are received, the highest priority will be given to the employees with the longest continuous years of service in the District.
G. An employee who meets the criteria in item “B”, but who has not completed a minimum of ten (10) consecutive years of service to the school district may apply for a
prorated early retirement amount. Approval of such application by the board will be based on the best interests of the school district, and if a prorated amount is approved,
the amount will be based on completed consecutive years of service at the time of the application for the Early Retirement Plan.
H. The application for the Early Retirement Plan and the resignation must be approved by the board, which will authorize disbursement of the early retirement amount.
I. Approval by the board of the support staff employee's early retirement application shall constitute a voluntary resignation. Approval by the board of the support staff
employee's early retirement application will also make the support staff employee eligible for disbursement of the early retirement amount on January 10 of the school year
following the support staff employee’s approval for early retirement. Failure of the board to approve the support staff employee's early retirement application will make the
support staff employee's current contract with the board continue in full force and effect.
II. Voluntary Early Retirement Amount and Terms:
A. A support staff employee who meets one of the eligibility requirements as stated in the policy will be eligible for the early retirement amount of approximately 45% of the
beginning base pay for their job classification plus an amount equal to 25% of the employee’s accumulated sick leave times the current daily substitute pay rate for that
position. An employee whose contractual full-time equivalency (FTE) is less than 1.00 will be eligible for a prorated early retirement amount by multiplying the employee’s
FTE by the applicable amount above.
B. An employee agrees to participate in the “Special Pay Plan”. This plan allows payment of the early retirement amount to be paid to a Tax Shelter Annuity of the employee’s
choice. This Tax Shelter Annuity must be with a company that participates in the State of Iowa Plan. If the employee is currently contributing to a Tax Shelter Annuity the
payment will be made to the same company. The employee agrees not to close out this account before the January payment is made.
C. Upon retirement, the support staff employee is eligible to continue participation in the school district's group insurance plan at the support staff employee's expense by
meeting the requirements of the insurer. The employee/retiree must pay the monthly premium amount in full to the board secretary prior to the due date of the school
district's premium payment to the insurance carrier.
This insurance coverage will cease when the support staff employee/retiree qualifies for Medicare coverage, secures other employment in which the employer provides
insurance coverage, or dies. If dependent insurance coverage is carried, that coverage may continue at the dependent’s expense beyond the employee's/retiree's
qualification for Medicare coverage under COBRA provisions.
In the event of the death of the employee/retiree, the dependent of the employee/retiree may continue coverage in the school district's group health insurance program at
his/her own expense under COBRA provisions, if the dependent was covered through the school district's group health insurance program prior to the death of the
employee/retiree.
D. An employee who elects to participate in this program will become a retired employee and will be entitled to all rights and privileges of such a retiree under applicable laws
and policies of the school district.
E. Beneficiary. In the event of the death of the employee prior to the early retirement amount being paid, payment will be as follows:
- Lump sum payment will be made to a designated beneficiary for the early retirement amount due to the employee on January 10 of the school year following the support staff employee’s approval for early retirement.
- In the event no beneficiary is named, payment shall be made to the estate of the employee on January 10 following the support staff employee’s approval for early retirement.
The board has complete discretion to offer or not to offer an Early Retirement Plan for support staff employees and will review this policy annually. The board may discontinue the school district's Early Retirement Plan at any time.
