Veteran teachers David Knight and Jeni Peters will leave the Haines School this year, and they’re getting a boost from an early retirement incentive offered by the district.
The incentive, the first offered here in several years, offered senior teachers between $11,000 and $20,000 for electing to retire. The State of Alaska offered an early-retirement incentive about 10 years ago.
Ten of the district’s 25 full-time teachers were eligible for the incentive, offered to staff with at least 12 years’ experience.
“It made a big difference,” said Peters, who has worked as a speech pathologist and special education teacher for 32 years. “I can clean up some credit card bills and be a little more stable that way. It just seemed like the right time, as well.”
Knight has served as a voc-ed teacher, including wood shop, auto shop, welding and small engines, for 21 years. He said the incentive didn’t affect his decision to move on, but said he thought it was a good idea.
Superintendent Michael Byer said the district offered the incentive as a cost-savings measure in the face of an unknown budget picture, and described it as a “double-edged sword.”
“It’s too bad to divest ourselves of our most experienced educators when we need all hands on deck” to reach increasingly stringent requirements of the No Child Left Behind law.
“Obviously, you want experienced, competent teachers teaching your kids, but to cut costs, (early retirement) is one way of achieving those savings,” Byer said. “We offered it because we don’t know (the district’s funding picture for the coming year). It’s in preparation for the unknown.
Peters said she expects she’ll continue to work with children in some capacity and will devote more time to her family’s fishing business. “Teaching here has been an absolutely wonderful experience. I feel so privileged to have been part of the lives of two generations of students. Watching these kids grow up and have families of their own, that’s a special thing,” Peters said.
Knight said he plans to spend more time traveling and commercial fishing. “I’ll do a lot of things I’ve been putting off a lot of years, like fix my car.”
“The best part of the job was dealing with kids. The days just fly by. That’s the hazard when you’re having fun. It whizzed by. If we had an in-service, the day was twice as long.” His successor, he said, would be unprepared for how much fun he’ll have. “I question my own sanity to give it up.”.
A February survey by the Alaska Association of School Boards found Haines Borough School District salary offerings below average for base pay but slightly above average for top teacher pay.
Haines ranked 39th of 43 districts in base teacher salary at $37,697, and 30th of 43 districts for average teacher salary. The average Haines salary is $54,985. The average salary in Alaska is $59,535, plus $15,000 in insurance and other benefits.
The highest salary a Haines teacher can achieve is $77,481. In that category, Haines ranks 18th of 43 districts.