Marshfield School Board works to extend retirement benefits, attract subs
By Hub City Times staff
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield School District might be extending retirement benefits to its newest teachers, after approving a revised plan for its more experienced instructors in December.
The Board of Education voted last month in favor of a revised version of the district’s retirement benefit plan, which covers those teachers hired before July 1, 2012. The plan spells out how much in retirement benefits certain teachers will get, based on their years of service.
During their Jan. 9 meeting, board member Amber Kiggens-Leifheit said the Employee Relations Committee is looking at a new plan for those instructors hired since 2012.
“It’s not retroactive for employees that might have been hired between now and then, but going forward the district would put $1,000 into an HRA each year for their employees; and then, if an employee stays here greater than 15 years, they get 100 percent of what is in that fund and all of the earnings. It is prorated, if an employee leaves before then. But, of course, it is weighted to try to encourage (retention of) our good employees, and this is something we’ve needed since 2012 when employee post-retirement benefits changed. We all said, ‘Ok, next we’ve got to get to this and figure out what we can do for those employees.”
The new plan would cover teachers hired since Act 10 legislation that affected primarily collective bargaining, retirement, health insurance, and sick leave of public-sector employees.
The committee is also revisiting the amount the district pays its substitute teachers.
“What we asked in Employee Relations is to bring back more of what the districts right around us are making – Auburndale, Spencer, Stratford, maybe Greenwood, Loyal – those that are really within driving distance that someone might decide, well if they pay more I might as well sub there,” Leifheit stated.
She added the district, like many others, has a hard time attracting subs, and that substitute pay information obtained from other districts primarily ranges between $95-120 a day.
