At the end of this school year, nine teachers, English Teacher Hillel Crandus, Sharon Sheehan, Math Teacher and Instructional Coach, Math Teacher Teresa Youngberg, Keith MacDonald, P.E. Teacher, Varsity Boys’ Swim Coach, and Girls’ Badminton Coach, Jeff Rylander, Instructional Supervisor (IS) of the Science Department, Dawn Hall, IS of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department, Science Teacher Jim Glynn, Charlotte Tryfonopoulos, Instructional Assistant for the Deans’ Office, and Special Education Teacher Dale Laackman will be retiring, Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said.

To retire, teachers pick a window between four to six years in advance and work with the District Office to ensure they have met all the requirements, Georges said. The requirements for retirement in District 225 include a teacher reaching a certain age or having worked a certain number of years which is based on two tiers: Tier 1 (becoming a teacher before Jan 1, 2011) and Tier 2 (becoming a teacher after Jan 1, 2011), Georges said. In Tier 1, full benefits are available at age 60 with 10 years of service, or age 55 with 35 years of service. Early retirement is possible at age 55 with 20 years of service, but benefits are reduced for every year under age 60. In Tier 2, full benefits are available at age 67 with 10 years of service. Early retirement is possible at age 62, but benefits are reduced for each year under age 67, Georges explained. However, many teachers retire earlier than these requirements, Georges said.

For Crandus, the difficulty of teaching during the pandemic helped him reach his decision to retire. However, he decided to stay an extra two years after coming back to teaching and remembering his love for it, Crandus shared.

“I did not retire because I liked being here and I liked the kids,” Crandus said.

Sheehan was impacted by the South community, allowing her to grow as a teacher and person.

“If I did not have the colleagues that I have, I would not be able to do the things I did,” Sheehan said.

Hall felt grateful for being able to hire 15 of the current CTE teachers—people who demonstrate passion for teaching, Hall said.

“My department feels more like a family than a team of teachers,” Hall said.

Every teacher carries a lot of knowledge with them, and losing them can be hard, Georges said.

“We feel very sad about losing them, but happy for their next set of adventures,” Georges said. “Operationally, we move forward seamlessly, but our hearts are broken.”