By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
managing editor
KEYSER — In the hopes of keeping the number of RIF'd (Reduction In Force) employees at a minimum each year, the Mineral County Board of Education voted Tuesday to match the state board's $500 incentive for early notification of retirement.
According to Superintendent Skip Hackworth, the West Virginia Board of Education offers a $500 bonus to those employees who notify their local school
board of their impending retirement by Dec. 1.
Now, the Mineral County Board of Education will match that with an additional $500 as an added incentive.
In order to qualify for the $1,000 bonus, however, the retiring employee would have to work until the end of the school year.
Hackworth said being aware of upcoming retirements is a big help when the county school administration looks at staffing for the following year.
“The more we have that notify us they're retiring early, the less we have to RIF early,” he said.
State-mandated deadlines for staffing have been set much earlier than previous years, and Hackworth said it is causing a problem with filling slots in the county.
“We have to notify people by Feb. 1 if they're going to be RIF'd at the end of the year,” he said, noting that he fears such early notification will prompt them to seek employment elsewhere, “and then we'll never see them again.”
The board members approved the incentive match 5-0.
