The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District has been officially listed as the next victim of both CalPERS and CalSTRS. At a time when there is supposed to be a teacher shortage, this District, to keep its doors open is begging teachers to retire early—with no guarantee of replacements—because there is no money to pay them.
““Costs are ballooning,” Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh says. “[MPUSD] is trying to be proactive about decreasing deficit spending.”
That means looking closely at every expenditure. Currently, MPUSD’s second-biggest expenditure is employee benefits, about 25 percent of the total budget. That includes an estimated $1.8 million to CalPERS and $4.8 million to CalSTRs in 2016-17. In three years, those payments will increase to $3.3 million and $7.7 million, respectively.
The board is taking action. At a meeting Nov. 28, they voted 6-0 to approve a plan incentivizing early retirement. It would let retiring teachers receive 75 percent of their salary, paid out as an annuity over a period of time.”
So, if you are paying 75% of a teachers pay, how much money do you have left over to pay for classroom teachers to replace the retirees? Like Oroville cutting the pay of cops 10% to pay CalPERS, the public is the loser. Yet, have you heard your elected official in Sacramento mention this disaster?
Increased pension contributions are coming, and MPUSD braces for budget hits.
Marielle Argueza, Monterey County News, 11/30/17
To battle the deficit, the MPUSD board approved plans to cut back from eight periods to seven in high schools next year.
Over the last few years, MPUSD has made some costly investments, like funding early childhood development classes. But it’s an age-old recurring investment that is putting on the pressure: pensions.
Pension payments are getting trickier for public entities all across California thanks to pension reforms approved in 2012, which shift the burden of employer contributions from the state to local level. Like other entities, MPUSD’s share of payments to the California Public Employees Retirement System and Teachers Retirement System (CalPERS and CalSTRS) is increasing.
“Costs are ballooning,” Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh says. “[MPUSD] is trying to be proactive about decreasing deficit spending.”
That means looking closely at every expenditure. Currently, MPUSD’s second-biggest expenditure is employee benefits, about 25 percent of the total budget. That includes an estimated $1.8 million to CalPERS and $4.8 million to CalSTRs in 2016-17. In three years, those payments will increase to $3.3 million and $7.7 million, respectively.
The board is taking action. At a meeting Nov. 28, they voted 6-0 to approve a plan incentivizing early retirement. It would let retiring teachers receive 75 percent of their salary, paid out as an annuity over a period of time.
The plan is contingent on at least 45 employees opting in, and could save the district $2.5 million over five years.
“It’s a way for teachers to identify if they can afford to retire,” board member Debra Gramespacher says. She also sees it as a way to stave off major layoffs in the future.
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