School Officials to Look at Policy on Severance Packages for Retirees

The Whitefish Bay School Board has agreed to give a $37,000 severance package to a retiring teacher, even though it is debatable whether the district is obliged to offer those benefits anymore.

Sue Rymer, who has taught at the school since 1992 and previously taught for more than 10 years in the Whitnall School District, expressed an interest in retiring after the collective bargaining agreement between the teachers union and school district expired on June 30.

Because she is 64-1/2 years old, Mark Kapocius, the district's human resources director, recommended the board grant a severance package totaling roughly $36,700 because she is nearly eligible for Social Security and Medicare. That's the amount she would have received under the expired contract.

Kapocius said it is "debatable" whether the district is required to extend retirement benefits stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement, which . Employee benefits will now be spelled out in employee handbooks, which are being developed by administrators.

The district may not have had to grant a severance package, but because of Rymer’s age, Kapocius said it was a “very low-cost retirement” for the district and allowed the district to shift employees into other vacancies.

“It’s a question of whether they (the employees) have a vested interest in that benefit,” Kapocius said. “Legally, it’s debatable. Ethically, for someone who has worked and expects to receive that benefit, it’s a question of whether we should continue to offer that benefit. That’s something the board will have to consider.”

Kapocius said the board will review the issue of severance packages for employees before the school year starts in September.

"Ultimately, it’s a balancing act between what the board can afford and how we can continue to recruit and retain the best employees," he said.

Rymer announced her retirement after June 30, which is past the original Feb. 1 retirement notification deadline. Two other teachers, Gerard Schmitz and Steven Marshall, announced their retirements before that deadline.

Schmitz, a high school English teacher and adviser of the Tower Times student newspaper, had been with the district since 1984, and Marshall had taught science at the high school since 2000.

As called for in the collective bargaining agreement, Rymer will be paid for 110 days and 1/12th of a day's pay for each of her 83 unused sick days.

The district will continue to pay her health insurance costs until she is eligible for Medicaid in several months, Kapocius said.