School District Eyes New Retirement Plan For Teachers

The Oak Creek-Franklin School District is moving closer to a plan that would decrease teachers' retirement benefits while moving the district to a fully-funded retirement plan. 

Under the plan, which was laid out earlier this year, those closest to retiring would see gradual reductions in retirement benefits over the next three to five years.

The rest of the workforce would be put into a different system altogether — a health retirement account. The School Board could vote Monday on establishing the HRAs, which would require an initial investment of $1.5 million to implement.

The district pays about $2 million in retirement costs in its current pay-as-you-go structure, Human Resources Director Troy Hamblin has said. The new plan would take about eight years to implement, gradually shift money from retirees to active employees and end up costing the district only $1 million per year, he said.

Teachers have objected to the plan, saying decreases in retirement benefits would show a lack of loyalty to staff members, especially those nearing retirement.