Seven take early retirement at North Iowa

North Iowa Community School will bid farewell to seven longtime staff members at the end of the school year, as they have accepted early retirement packages offered by the Board of Directors.

The departing teachers and staff have a combined 209 years of service to the school district, and they will receive a cash bonus for each year they have been with the district, plus money for unused sick days and health insurance coverage for a period of time.

Those taking early retirement include counselor Brad Huntington, who has been with the district for 39.5 years, and elementary teacher Loree Huntington, 36 years, who were accepted for early retirement in December. The School Board accepted early retirements for five more staff members at their January meeting last Monday, including: TAG teacher Sue Peake, 37 years; language arts teacher JoAnn DeBoer, 36 years; technology integrationist Kim Ostermann, 28 years; P.E. and health teacher Rox Steffensen, 19 years; and administrative assistant Sheryl Davids, 14 years.

The deadline for staff to apply for early retirement was January 9. North Iowa Supt. Joe Erickson is hopeful that the district will have plenty of time to find new candidates to fill these positions. He says some of the positions may change a little bit depending on who they hire.

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