At the start of the current calendar year, the Perry School District activated its early retirement program, and as expected many staff members will be taking advantage of the opportunity.

Nine individuals were approved for early retirement effective the end of the current school year, with three of them being especially noteworthy. Activities Director Tom Lipovac, Nutrition Director Gail McFarlin, and Building and Grounds Director Kevin McLaughlin each decided to call it a career through early retirement. As Superintendent Clark Wicks points out, replacing the three directors will be no easy task, but doing so will be one of the District’s top priorities in the coming months. “These three have a tremendous amount of experience, so we have some big shoes to fill. It just now is a matter of us working on that transition, so that we can still be as successful as we are. So again, (a) big ‘Thank you’ to all nine people for their service as we finish out this year, and then these three directors for their great service and quite a number of years of service, too.”

The other six early retirees include second grade teacher Rebecca Anderson, middle school para educator Diane Martelli, kindergarten teacher Becky Reuter, middle school dean of students Carol Ryerson, high school custodian Betty Wenger, and cook Susan Whiton. There may also be a few more staff members to take advantage of the program, as the deadline to apply is the end of January. Wicks says the purpose of allowing early retirement is largely cost savings, as they will hire less experienced but less expensive replacements for the departing staff. To learn more about this and other topics involving the Perry School District, click the link below to listen to the recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Wicks.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2020/01/14/lets-talk-dallas-county-1-14-2020-clark-wicks/