North Greene to start paying TRS
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By Carmen Ensinger
The North Greene School District has taken another step towards retaining its teachers. In ratifying the latest contract with the certified and non-certified staff with the North Greene Education Association, the district has agreed to start paying into the TRS (Teacher Retirement System) for its employees.
Currently, North Greene teachers are responsible for paying into their own retirement system with the money taken out of their paychecks.
“This contract that we ratified at our Aug. 20 school board meeting is a four-year contract in which we will start paying the TRS for our teachers incrementally over the next four years,” North Greene Superintendent Jackie Kuchy said. “I know of at least one other local district who has started doing it recently and your bigger district like Jacksonville and Jerseyville do it.”
In Illinois, the TRS member contribution rate is nine percent of gross creditable earnings. This mandatory contribution helps fund the teacher’s retirement annuity.
So as not to be such a big hit financially to the district, the entire nine percent will be spread out over the four-year period of the contract starting out with the district contributing 25 percent of the TRS the first year of the contract, 50 percent the second year, and so on until it is 100 percent funded by the district in year four of the contract.
“We believe this is the number one recruitment and retention strategy and we are trying to remain competitive,” Kuchy said. “We can never compete with what Jerseyville or Jacksonville offers salary wise, but this is a big deal on the teacher’s side of things when it is no longer coming out of their pay.”
Another plus for the district is that it counts towards credible earnings.
“The State set a minimum teacher salary and TRS does factor into that minimum salary,” Kuchy said. “So, if the district pays part of that TRS that is considered credible earnings and that contributes to that overall base minimum that you have to meet.”
