Hutto ISD offers early resignation notification stipends

On Feb. 9, the Hutto ISD Board of Trustees approved giving an incentive to up to 30 Hutto ISD employees who plan to resign during or at the end of the 2011–12 school year if they let the district know by March 1.

Faced with cutting the budget for the coming school year by $1.2 million because of a reduction in state funds, the school board is trying to save on personnel costs through attrition.

"It gives us the maneuvering room to start moving some people around and eliminate some slots without eliminating people," Superintendent Doug Killian said.

The stipend is 5 percent of the employee's base salary, capped at $3,000. Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Ed Ramos said the maximum cost to the district would be $90,000.

Last year, 54 employees took the early resignation stipend, which equaled a payroll savings of $2.3 million and cost the district $131,000.

Ramos said one of the reasons the district decided to offer the incentives was to use it as a planning tool.

"If we knew that certain individuals were not coming back, that would allow us to move other individuals to those open positions," he said.

The district plans to hold public input meetings on potential budget cuts starting at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 and 22 at Performing Arts Center at Hutto High School, 101 FM 685. After the district receives public input, school administration will propose budget cuts to the board of trustees.