Dunbarton news : retirement

Assistant superintendent to retire

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:58:00 GMT

BY STEPHEN BEALE
Kathi Titus, an assistant superintendent for Goffstown, Dunbarton and New Boston, is retiring at the end of this school year.

Her departure will coincide with that of Dr. Darrell Lockwood, the 10-year superintendent who is taking the top school administrative position in Tyngsborough, Mass., after this year.

The other assistant superintendent, Stacy Buckley, will take over as interim superintendent this summer.

As one of two assistant superintendents, Titus has oversight over curriculum and instruction for regular education in the school districts for the three towns — grouped together under School Administrative Unit 19.

The second assistant position deals with special education.

Keith Allard, chairman of the Goffstown School Board, said the SAU board will hire a one-year assistant superintendent for regular education and a permanent assistant superintendent for special education. If Buckley does not move from interim to permanent superintendent, Allard said she would take over as the assistant for regular education in a year. Titus earned $92,204 during the 2007-08 school year and Buckley earned $88,265, according to the state department of education.

Titus has been in Goffstown for five years, her latest stint in a 32-year career. Titus, who is 54, said she wanted to retire while she is still young.

“People don’t retire to play bingo these days,” she said. “We still have the energy and the time and the skills to create.”

She noted that she chose this year specifically due to the uncertainties surrounding the reform of the New Hampshire retirement system.

Titus got her start in 1976 as a high school teacher in Ludlow, Mass. About 10 years later, she shifted to more of an administrative role. Her latest was as a supervising principal at a grammar school in Methuen, Mass., before coming to Goffstown.

“I’ve loved every role I have ever had,” Titus said. “Each time I’ve ended up enjoying the next one a little bit more than the other one.”

She said she took the Goffstown position after remembering how much she respected Lockwood while working with him in the Exeter school system.

“He’s a fantastic superintendent,” Titus said. “It’s been wonderful working for him.”

For her first two years in Goffstown, Titus was the assistant superintendent for special education. She then moved over to regular education in 2005. One of the things she has enjoyed doing, she said, is sharing resources and combining various tasks — such as integrating teacher training with training of their supervisors.

Allard praised Titus for her work, saying she played an integral role in the advancement and development of the curriculum in the schools and credited her with guiding the expansion of the honors program at the high school.

“The fruits of Kathi’s creative thinking and devotion to our schools can be seen in the work of all our fine educators,” Allard said. “In just five years Kathi has earned the respect of the staff and has left a favorable imprint on our school district.”

As she prepares to leave, Titus said she will miss what she describes as a special school community.

“It’s a very special place,” Titus said. “All the school districts — the kids and the communities — really do support their schools.”

Titus said education has been the love of her life, adding that it is likely she will somehow be involved in schools even during her retirement. She is trying to think more about that — than the fact that she is leaving.

“I don’t think about the goodbye part,” Titus said. “I’m just focused on the next steps.”

State, towns debate retirement funding

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:02:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Town Administrator Janice VandeBogart is one of many municipal employees across the state who has announced her retirement this year after hearing about the state of flux the New Hampshire retirement system is in.

Having started out as deputy town clerk in 1983 and moving up to become Dunbarton’s first town administrator, VandeBogart has about 25 years in the retirement system.

Currently, Group I municipal employees, including teachers and town office staff, are eligible for the medical subsidy at the age of 60, provided they have paid into the system for 20 years.

The medical subsidy for such employees is disappearing, and while the deadline was extended until 2009, the initial deadline for those who wanted to retire with the current benefits was July 1, 2008.

While VandeBogart looks forward to spending more time with her husband, she admitted the possibility of losing some or all of her medical subsidy benefit weighed heavily in her decision to retire this year.

After figuring out the formula used in the past to set employer contribution rates and allocate funding was faulty, legislators and municipalities alike set to work to figure out a way to fill a $2.7 billion shortfall in the main part of the fund.

The House of Representatives put forth a proposal, House Bill 1645, aimed at correcting the problem. The Senate is currently pondering its own version of the proposal.

The House’s proposal, if passed, would eliminate an 8 percent annual increase in medical subsidy payments to retirees and transfer $250 million from a special account for medical subsidies into the corpus of the fund and include financial and accounting professionals on the New Hampshire retirement system’s Board of Trustees.

It would also have increased the minimum retirement age for public safety employees, such as police officers and firefighters, to 50 instead of the current 45 years old and would have increased the number of years they needed to put in to retire from 20 to 25 years total. The current Senate version of the bill freezes the annual increase in the medical subsidy until 2012, at which time 4 percent annual increases would begin.

It would also leave both the Board of Trustees’ composition and the age limit and time requirements for public safety employees as they are.

The Local Government Center calculated the impact of House Bill 1645 compared to the costs associated with taking no action to fix the retirement system for towns and school districts across the state.

According to Goffstown Town Administrator Sue Desruisseaux, if nothing is done at the state level to fix the retirement system, the town and school employer contributions for the 2009-10 year would increase by about $600,000 from what they currently are.

The cost falling to taxpayers for the town side alone would be $261,730 for 2009-10, according to projected estimates. If the House bill is passed, it would result in an estimated $17,293.80 in contribution costs to the town.

The school’s portion of the contributions would add another $325,000 or so to those costs if nothing is done, Desruisseaux said.

“Our Board of Selectmen took a stand to support House Bill 1645 and sent letters to all our representatives and senator. They’re also supporting Local Government Center starting a legal fund that if (House Bill) 1645 doesn’t pass to take legal action,” Desruisseaux said.

Many towns and school districts across the state have joined in the coalition with Local Government Center if the medical subsidy costs fall to employers, and therefore taxpayers, saying that situation would result in an unfunded mandate.

Darrell Lockwood, superintendent for Goffstown, Dunbarton and New Boston schools, said all three school boards in those districts have joined that coalition with the stipulation that they could choose to withdraw from it upon seeing the language of the suit.

“In reality, it’s a tough one. There’s a lot of different voices in this one and certainly it’s important to our school boards to have good benefits for their staff, and yet, they’re also responsible for the taxpayers’ dollars,” Lockwood said.

Lockwood said one of the most important aspects of the retirement issue is the stark difference in the points of view of the House and Senate on how to fix it.

“It’s a system that I believe everyone realizes is broken, but there’s still many viewpoints in terms of how to proceed in fixing this,” he said.

Weare Superintendent Christine Tyrie said Weare’s School Board also joined that coalition, but the School Board at John Stark Regional High School has not.

“The boards are very concerned about increases in retirement,” Tyrie said. “They’re wondering how, if they’re negotiating a contract of planning their budget for next year, how they’re going to absorb that and keep their budgets low.”

New Boston employees in the town offices are on a retirement plan separate from the state, but the Police Department would still be greatly impacted by the passing of House Bill 1645.

Police Chief Christopher Krajenka said the House’s proposal would have severe implications in terms of the health and wellness of older officers, given the high stress level of the job.

“This job is truly a young man’s game. Realistically, the stress of this job is taking years off of our lives,” Krajenka said, saying increasing the retirement age to 50 and extending the time officers have to pay into the retirement system before retiring to 25 years is pushing it.

“Forcing people beyond that time, I think we’re setting them up and I think we’re setting the communities up,” Krajenka added.

Longtime town administrator to leave Dunbarton

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:35:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

After helping form the position of Dunbarton Town Administrator a decade ago, Janice VanDeBogart looks forward to her retirement in June and spending more time with her husband of seven years.

A resident of Dunbarton for 31 years, VanDeBogart started out as the town’s deputy town clerk in 1983, took a job as secretary to the Board of Selectmen several years later and was promoted to administrative assistant to the board for four years before she ended her string of service in the town administrator’s seat.

VanDeBogart is the first and only town administrator Dunbarton has ever had.

“It’s been wonderful working with her,” said longtime Selectman Leslie Hammond, touting VanDeBogart’s finesse in dealing with the public and departments competing for time and funding on a daily basis.

“It’s kind of a unique individual who can deal with people every day coming in here,” Hammond added. “That’s what I’ll be looking for when we’re hiring people.”

VanDeBogart, 60, said she chose to retire now to prevent the loss of her health insurance subsidy, which the state has said it will take away from town employees who are at least 60 years of age and have 20 years under their belts if they do not retire before July 1.

Her husband, Jan, was the town’s road agent for six years before retiring two years ago, VanDeBogart said.

While she admits she is exhausted, VanDeBogart said she will deeply miss the day-today interactions with neighborly Dunbarton residents and town officials that made her feel at home in the town offices.

“This is really a community atmosphere, and I’ve loved it,” said VanDeBogart. “Those faces that I saw when I first moved here 31 years ago, those faces are gone. There’s new faces, but I can see the spirit is still there.”

VanDeBogart is an avid painter on the side, working in acrylics and oils. While she hasn’t yet sold any of the 30 or so art pieces she’s finished so far, she hopes to make her hobby into something lucrative eventually, she said.

She also hopes to do some traveling with her husband, including visiting family out West.

In the meantime, the Board of Selectmen has just begun the process of searching for her replacement.

The deadline for applications was Monday, March 31. As of Tuesday, April 1, seven applications had been filed.

With her last day falling on June 27, the intent is to get someone into the position in mid-May to cross train with VanDeBogart. The money to allow this was put into the budget Dunbarton voters passed at the Town Meeting on March 11.

In addition to VanDeBogart, secretary Janet Plamondon is also leaving her job with the town to spend time with a new grandchild who is on the way, Hammond said. The new town administrator would have to learn both jobs.

“What I anticipate we’re going to do is we’re going to select some individuals to act as a screening committee,” Hammond said. The committee would then rank the candidates and submit their recommendations to the selectmen for final reviews.

Hammond said VanDeBogart makes about $50,000, and the salary for the chosen candidate would be negotiated at some number below that.

VanDeBogart said the biggest challenge for whoever fills her spot will be getting to know the town front and back. Being a longtime resident, she said she has been at a great advantage in being able to recall history for answers to present-day questions. Whoever it is, VanDeBogart said she knows he or she will enjoy working for the town of Dunbarton.

“I think it’s rewarding in the people you meet and the friends you make. It’s fun, interesting, challenging and stressful all at the same time,” she said.