More than 200 educators have applied for a Fort Worth Independent School District program that incentivizes leaving the district at the end of the year.
The "early notification incentive" program offers a monetary bonus to educators that plan to resign or retire by the end of the school year.
98 elementary teachers, 82 secondary teachers, and 29 professional staff have applied for the program as of Feb. 15, 2012, according to numbers provided by Fort Worth ISD's Clint Bond.
Teachers apply before Feb. 29 may receive a bonus of up to ten-percent of their annual salary after they resign or retire.
Due to state budget cuts for schools, Fort Worth ISD faces another year of cutting costs. The incentive program is designed to help minimize the amount of layoffs for next school year by encouraging employees to voluntarily leave their positions.
"One of the most effective ways to cut personnel costs is by attrition," Superintendent Walter Dansby said in a press release. "And, the ability to plan around the number of employees who will resign or retire at the end of this school year gives us a real head start in saving the District both money and jobs."
Smaller incentives will be offered for employees notifying the district before March 30. Up to 700 employees could be accepted by the program.
