Board of Education Will Formally Accept Another Administrator's Retirement Tonight

The School District of the Chathams Board of Education will likely accept another retirement from a member of its administration at its meeting tonight.

Harold Tariff, who is the district's Director of Special Services, will retire toward the end of 2010. His retirement will become effective Nov. 1 if the board accepts it tonight. It most likely will.

The board has already accepted the retirement of one other member of its administration earlier this year. Assistant Superintendent Anne Dudley will retire effective Sept. 1.

The state is offering retirement incentives for school district employees in an effort to encourage districts to save money. It costs far less for a school district to hire a new employee than to continue to pay an employee with a long-time tenure within the district.

The district will also likely accept the retirements of four other district employees tonight. A special education teacher, a fourth grade teacher, a fifth grade teacher and a speech language pathologist are also planning to retire, and all those retirements would be effective July 1, according to the agenda for tonight's meeting.