Administrators, certified and classified staff in the Marysville Exempted Village School District are getting another chance to take advantage of a buyout offer.

School board members unanimously approved a plan offering $45,000 to certified staff members and administrators. Classified staff, including administrative support personnel, cooks, and maintenance workers could get up to $20,000.

District treasurer Cindy Ritter said if a staff member does not make $20,000 annually, they will be paid one year’s salary.

School board president Jeff Mabee said since the announcement was made on Friday, Feb. 10, he has received posi-tive feedback.

“I think people have seen it as a way the board is trying to save money while at the same time, still being able to offer the same high level of education,” he said. “This offer will not be a long-term budget fix by any means, but it may allow us a little bit of wiggle room.”

Thirty-five staff members have taken advantage of the offer since it was originally presented last year, Ritter said.

The idea to extend the offer is an effort to improve cash flow, she said.

“It’s worthwhile,” she said. “If there’s a couple of more that want to take it and didn’t take the opportunity, let them do it. I think it’s fair.”

She said when the offer was originally made, there were a lot of distracting factors including Senate Bill 5.

“And it’s a tough thing to think about — retirement,” she said. “I think because of the timing of last year, I think it’s fair.”

Mabee agreed that there may be some staff members who had second thoughts.

“I think that really comes from what was going on at the time we offered this last year, with S.B. 5 being on the front burner as well as changes to STRS (State Teachers Retirement System),” he said. “The folks down at STRS were swamped with requests for meetings to do retirement paperwork and if you were not in early, you would be waiting months to get in — far past our deadline.

“So this is really a chance for just those people to look at it and consider it, now that all of that has subsided and they can get all the information they need.”

During the discussion on whether to approve the extension, Mabee asked Ritter what the buyout would save the district per person.

“It just depends on where they’re at on the salary schedule right now, if we have to replace that person or if it’s someone we do not need to replace,” she said. “I’m just going to say it could save us approximately $18,000 a year for one person.”

Mabee clarified that after three years, it actually saves the district $55,000.

“And that’s if we replace that person,” he said. “If we don’t replace that person, we save the whole $80,000.”

Interim Superintendent Bill Reimer said the buyouts are good financial moves but come with a price.

“The down side is some of the best are leaving. That was one of the things I struggled with as a superintendent because you want to keep the very best as long as possible,” he said. “But this is a very brief extension that involves a very small group of people.”

Marysville Education Association president Juliet Litzel said if the district can save money by extending the offer, it may help save other jobs.

“The state isn’t going to fund us properly and the board hasn’t asked the community for more money, which leaves the district leaders in a position to cut jobs and/or programs,” she said. “Last year, most of the positions of those who retired were absorbed through attrition. We have another handful who were already scheduled to retire.

“If those and more go, it opens up money to hire less-expensive teachers and is still a savings to the district,” Litzel said.

Like Reimer, she worries about programs and class sizes when jobs are absorbed and not replaced.

“Since the buyout is an agreement between the Marysville Education Association and the board, we will sign a memorandum of understanding that extends the buyout from last year but only to those who are eligible to retire,” she said.

Ritter said it will be quite a while before district officials know if anyone has decided to accept the offer.

In order to qualify for the severance plan, an employee must be able to retire with either STRS or SERS (School Employees Retirement System) as of June 30, 2012.