Bret Apthorpe

After approving leave incentive opportunities for certain employees, the Jamestown Public Schools District received 22 resignation letters from teachers.

Jamestown Schools Superintendent Bret Apthorpe said the goal was to offer employees in the district who want to leave the district and pursue other employment avenues a beneficial way out.

“The leave incentive is a double-edged sword because on one hand you save money as a school district but on the other hand you have some excellent educators who are leaving,” Apthorpe told The Post-Journal. “We’re losing some good people.”

Apthorpe said he didn’t know the actual amount the district will save through the program.

Teachers that elected to utilize the incentive will receive $25,000 in four payments over four years.

Also taking advantage of the incentive program was one principal, who will receive up to $10,000 over five years to supplement their health insurance premiums.

“You may have someone who has worked for 20 years who wants to do something else, but can’t because they don’t have the years,” Apthorpe previously said of the program. “This is giving those sorts of folks an opportunity to leave and not retire and go work somewhere else.”

The teachers — who have not yet been identified — will be able to continue to add to their Teacher Retirement System, or TRS, while employed elsewhere; the district saves money by hiring a new teacher at a lower salary level. The same is true for the principal incentive.

The pension is based on the average of an employee’s three highest salary years. While the payout for taking the incentive will likely be lower than the most recent salary, it will not negatively impact a teacher’s overall pension once retired, Apthorpe said.

The district placed a 15-teacher minimum on its offer to ensure there will be a significant amount of savings from the deal. Those teachers also had to be on a certain pay step in order to qualify. Apthorpe said the salary of an eligible teacher is around $65,000. With 22 teachers, Apthorpe anticipates significant savings for the district by replacing those positions with new teachers beginning on a lower step.

“It was successful in the sense that we definitely have a financial savings by that large number, but at the same token were going to lose some pretty good teachers,” Apthorpe said.

In anticipation for the large number of vacancies and to combat an ongoing national teacher shortage, John Panebianco, director of Human Resources, has been visiting local colleges and universities promoting Jamestown. Apthorpe said the district currently has more than 70 applicants seeking employment.

“Right now, we are very pleased with the teacher applicant pool because of (Panebianco’s) work,” he said.