The Hemet Unified School District and the Hemet Teachers Association have agreed to an incentive to encourage teachers to notify the district before the school ends if they plan to retire or leave the district.
This year, the district and the HTA have negotiated an agreement that offers teachers who plan to leave the district at the end of the school year $1,500 if they make the commitment through a resignation letter by Jan. 20, 2017.
Any permanent teacher who plans on leaving the district after the 2016-17 school year is eligible for the payment.
Once submitted, the decision cannot be changed. The agreement states, “Resignations and retirements of participating employees are irrevocable.” The incentive will be paid in April. However, an individual can decide later in the year to leave or retire, but would be ineligible for the bonus.
The advantage to the HUSD is the early knowledge of number of vacancies that will have to be filled for next fall. Normally, teacher attrition is between 18 and 25 individuals district-wide and Vincent J. Christakos, assistant superintendent for business services, does not expect this incentive to augment the number of separations or retirements.
“It will allow the district to start recruiting replacements for the positions sooner,” Christakos said. “Many teachers wait until the end of the school year to let us know they are leaving or retiring. May and June is very late to start searching for replacements.”
With the number of qualified teachers decreasing, the additional recruiting time will help the district find better staff, Christakos added.
