This story is produced from an episode of KVPR’s Central Valley Daily podcast. Listen to all episodes here, and wherever you get your podcasts. Central Valley Daily is supported by the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. If you have a story idea, email podcast@kvpr.org.
FRESNO, Calif. – More than 500 teachers and staff with Fresno Unified recently accepted an early retirement deal. This comes at a time that the district has noted a declining enrollment of students – and a need to save on costs.
Fresno Unified is the state's third largest school district. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has lost 1,000 students a year, according to its superintendent Misty Her, who spoke with KVPR’s Central Valley Daily podcast.
Currently, the student enrollment at Fresno Unified is around 67,000 students. Since 2002, the district has lost 13,000 students, according to Her.
She said with the declining rate of students, the district sought to save on costs by offering teachers early retirement deals. Attendance at schools is tied to school funding.
“The early retirement was done to honor the work that our retirees have [put] into our district,” Her said.
Such an incentive had not been offered in more than 20 years. Her said it was made available to teachers ages 55 and older in what she described as a “strategic” move.
A total of 573 employees accepted the offer, according to Her. The district estimates saving roughly $56 million in costs over the next five years.
Her said the district’s aim is to match staffing levels to current student enrollment while managing employee transitions and preserving institutional knowledge.
“We have interim goals, interim guardrails. We have initiatives now that are going to be in alignment to those goals and guardrails,” Her said.
