Knoxville — Nearly 700 Knox County Schools employees, including teachers and administrators, are eligible to apply for an early-retirement incentive being offered by the school system.
School board members approved going forward with the plan Wednesday night, and Knox County Commission is set to review it Monday. Administrators estimate perhaps 300-350 people would accept it.
The plan has been under discussion for several years. It would be eligible to employees with at least 10 years of service at KCS who are also eligible to retire from the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System.
It's being offered this year only, board chair Terry Hill said.
If about 200 employees took it, the system could save about $2.5 million even as it hired replacements at a lower cost, according to KCS spokeswoman Carly Harrington.
As an incentive, employees taking early retirement would be eligible to receive a monthly stipend to help cover health care until they reach eligibility for Medicare, according to Scott Bolton, KCS benefits manager. They could draw it for up to 14 years.
The pool of eligible candidates includes 27 school principals and 35 assistant principals, according to Bolton.
Several schools might feel a particular impact including Farragut High School and Powell High School. The subject area that would be most affected is related arts.
Applications for early retirement would be due in January. KCS could then review the apparent budget impact.
KCS would be willing to hire back retirees on a part-time basis. It's planning next summer to hold a retired teacher fair that would be open to all Knoxville area retired teachers.
Bolton said he thought the 10-year mark was a fair starting point.
Board member Evetty Satterfield and Patti Bounds have expressed support for the plan.
"I think this is a very wonderful thing to put out there," board chair Hill said at an Oct. 30 workshop. "I'm optimistic that the brain drain might not be as severe as we think."
KCS has more than 8,000 employees.