More teachers in the Bismarck and Mandan school districts are opting for early retirement this year, which follows a statewide trend.

The Bismarck district had 43 teachers apply for early retirement out of the 107 who were eligible, which is the most district officials can remember seeing. Mandan will lose nine teachers out of its 25 who are eligible. Statewide, more teachers have filed for retirement benefits so far this year than a year ago, said Fay Kopp, with the state's Teachers Fund For Retirement.

Kopp said although teachers have until June 30 to apply for retirement benefits, about 300 applications already have been turned in. That surpasses last year's 266.

"At this time, it's difficult to indicate what's happening statewide," Kopp said.

The number of Bismarck teachers eligible for retirement peaked this year, said Lisa Kudelka, human resources manager for the district. During the late 1960s and early '70s, Bismarck schools saw a boom in enrollment and hired a large group of new teachers. With those teachers reaching retirement age and the district's early retirement incentive ending next year, officials expected to see large numbers, said Superintendent Paul Johnson.

Early retirement incentives were set up by the district in the 1980s as a cost-saving measure, but changes since then made it more attractive financially for teachers to stay longer. About three years ago, school board members decided to phase out the early retirement incentives and put more money into salaries to keep experienced teachers in the classroom, Kudelka said.

While teachers have another year before the incentives are completely phased out, more teachers are probably retiring this year because they will see more benefits than if they waited another year, Johnson said.

"They've done the math and gone over the calculations, and it turns out for many this year was the most advantageous," Johnson said.

Johnson said a federal mandate calling for all teachers to be "highly qualified" also could play a small part in the number of retirements. Instead of going through the process to meet the mandate's standards, teachers might just be calling it quits.

"There are a few teachers in the group that would have to go back to school or go through the other processes and they are saying, 'At this stage in my career, I'm not interested in doing that,'" he said.

Educators across the state feared when teaching standards were rolled out, districts would take a hit because of a large teaching population near retirement who wouldn't want to jump through the hoops to become qualified.

But despite an increase in retirements this year, there is skepticism about its link to the standards.

"We would hear those things like, 'I'm not going back to school to get highly qualified like this law requires,'" said Joe Westby, with the North Dakota Education Association. "But that's a lot easier to say than do."

"I heard it more a couple of years ago," Kudelka said. "The closer we get the more they are saying, 'I am going to retire because I want to or I am going to do what I have to do to be qualified.'"

Bismarck officials expect to have a strong applicant pool. Kudelka said about 350 people apply yearly for elementary positions in the district.

The biggest concern among administrators is bringing 43 new teachers up to speed on the district's various initiatives like curriculum mapping and helping brand new teachers make the transition into the classroom. The school board already has been asked to budget more money for orientation, which Kudelka hopes to extend from one day to four to provide additional staff development time.

"It always has an impact when you lose 43 individuals who have a lot of experience and history with the school district," Johnson said. "They carry the culture of the school district and are valued members of the teaching force."