P4069 VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT PROGRAM

BOARD POLICY:

The Board shall provide a voluntary early retirement program for all employee groups with the procedures and substance, and any changes thereto, of the program to be determined by the Board.

Administrative Implemental Procedures:

1.      Continued participation in the early retirement program by employees in any employee group shall be contingent upon that group’s continued willingness to allocate from within its salary/benefit package its share of the cost of the program as determined by the administration.

2.      Any part of the early retirement program or any action pursuant thereto which is contrary to law shall be null and void, but the remainder of the program shall remain in full force and effect.

3.      The Board of Education shall have the sole discretion to alter the form, procedures, or substance of the early retirement program in any manner at any time. In such case, the discontinuance or alteration shall not be applied retroactively to affect any retired employee receiving benefits from the program.

4.      In the event that there is any dispute concerning the proper interpretation or application of any part of the early retirement program to any employee or group of employees the decision of the Board of Education shall be final and binding.

5.      A retiree participating in the early retirement program shall be ineligible for employment by the school district in any capacity other than as a substitute employee. Once the employee reaches age 65 and is no longer eligible for early retirement benefits, the employee may be employed in a temporary capacity not to exceed 30 days in a school year. Such 30-day limitation shall not apply to substitute employees. A retiree may not cease participation in the program to become eligible for reemployment by the school district.

6.      Conditions which must be met in order to participate in the early retirement program:

a.       The employee must be a member of an employee group, which has elected to participate in the early retirement program.

b.      The employee must be a vested member of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. No payments pursuant to this Early Retirement Program shall be made prior to retirement under the provisions of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS).

c.       Normally, an employee who begins a school year (August 1, or later) will not be permitted to retire prior to the end of that school year (June 30). Any exception must be approved both by the school district and the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.

d.      The employee must not have an attained age of 65 years or more.   

e.       The employee must have been in the employment of Unified School District 259 with an effective hire date prior to July 1, 1996, and for 15 or more years in any position which was permanent and was at least half-time or required a work schedule of 20 or more hours per week. Employees hired by the District prior to July 1, 1996, who heretofore or hereafter leave employment with the District and who heretofore or hereafter return to the District on or after July 1, 1996, shall not be eligible to participate in the Early Retirement Program unless they met or meet the conditions set forth in this AIP6 that qualified or qualifies them to participate in the Early Retirement Program at the time they left or leave employment with the District (when the break in service starts).

f.    The employee must voluntarily elect to participate in the early retirement program.

g.      The employee must participate in retirement counseling conducted by the school district.

h.      Administrative and classified employees who are older than age 60 or who attain age 60 during the months of June or July and who chose to retire shall be eligible for their first early retirement benefit in the months of July and August, respectively. These benefits shall be paid in the month of August.

      Teachers who are older than age 60 or who attain age 60 during the months of June or July and who chose to retire shall be eligible for their first early retirement benefit in the months of July and August, respectively. These benefits shall be paid the first week of September.

      Employees younger than the age of 60 who chose to retire shall be eligible to receive their first early retirement benefit the month following their attaining age 60.

i.        The employee must have made application for participation in the early retirement program on or before February 28 or other date established by Human Resources. Employees asking to take early retirement after this date will have the opportunity to request consideration, but as a general rule, the district will adhere to the February 28 timeline.

j.        The district will enter into a written agreement with any employee who meets the above eligibility criteria, who is at least age 50, who resigns within the time limits allowed by statute, who is not involuntarily terminated, and who gives notice of resignation on or before a deadline established annually by the district. Such agreement will guarantee that the employee will be permitted to participate in the Voluntary Early Retirement Plan when the employee reaches age 60 as though the employee were still employed by the district at that time. The agreement will also permit the employee to retain membership in the Board provided health coverage plan provided the employee pays the full cost thereof and the district shall make no contribution, and the employee will continue to receive life coverage in an amount equal to the coverage currently provided him/her by the Board, the premium to be paid by the district.

7.      Persons employed by USD 259 on June 30, 2004, who transferred employment to the Wichita Area Technical College on July 1, 2004, and who are reemployed by USD 259 prior to July 1, 2010, shall be eligible to participate in the early retirement program upon meeting the following conditions:

a.   The person is continuously employed by Wichita Area Technical College between July 1, 2004, and the date of reemployment with USD 259.

b.   The person meets the conditions set forth in AIP 6a through AIP 6j herein; provided, however, the period of time while the person was employed by Wichita Area Technical College shall not be counted toward meeting the 15 or more years condition set forth in AIP 6e and such period of employment with Wichita Area Technical College shall not be counted as a break in service that makes the person ineligible to participate in the early retirement program. 

c.   The person is not eligible to participate in the Wichita Area Technical College’s early retirement program. 

8.      Early Retirement Benefits. Benefits and conditions of receiving benefits shall include the following:

a.       The school district shall pay the retiree not more than 60 monthly payments with the computation of such payment based on the retiree's Final Average Salary used by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), a 1.4% multiplier for all years of participating service credit with KPERS, and the total number of years of credited KPERS service, excluding purchased or repurchased KPERS service credit, and shall be calculated as if the employee were eligible for an unreduced benefit at the time of retirement.

b.      The school district shall pay the retiree until age 62 with at least 20 years of qualified service to the school district not more than 24 monthly payments with each payment equal to the amount of the social security benefit the retiree would have been eligible to receive if the employee were age 62. This benefit will be reduced by five percent for each year by which the employee’s years of qualified service are less than 20. The number of years of qualified service will not be rounded up. This benefit shall not be applicable if the applicant for the early retirement program has already reached an attained age of 62 years.

c.       The retiree if otherwise eligible will be permitted to remain a member of the appropriate Board health insurance plan upon the retiree paying the total premium for such membership.

d.      The retiree shall continue to receive life insurance coverage in an amount equal to the life insurance coverage provided to members of the last employee group of which the retiree was a member. Such life insurance premium shall be paid by the Board of Education.

e.       All benefits provided the retiree under the provisions of the early retirement program shall be terminated the last day of the month in which the retiree dies or attains age 65.

f.       The early retirement benefits specified in this plan are independent of any other retirement benefits for which the employee may be eligible from sources other than the school district.

g.      The retiree will receive no employment benefits or other benefits from the school district under the early retirement program except those expressly set forth herein. The early retirement payment shall be reduced by any workers’ compensation total disability payments received by the retiree.

h.      The benefits specified herein for any retiree shall not be affected by any change which may be implemented from time to time by either the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System and/or the Social Security Administration.

i.        All payments due any retiree under the provisions set forth herein shall be subject to all applicable deductions and made in accordance with procedures established by the Business/Financial Services Division.

Administrative Responsibility: Human Resources
Latest Revision Date: June 2007
Previous Revision Date: June 2000   P4069