Sunny Hills for the next school year will experience a staffing change as nine teachers representing five academic departments will not return after accepting the Fullerton Joint Union High School District’s [FJUHSD] early retirement incentive [ERI].
“Normally you don’t get this many [retirements] at one time, but it’s great for them, and I’m excited for them and what they have in store,” principal Craig Weinreich said. “For us, it’s a loss of a lot of tradition and experience in our staff, and we are going to train the younger teachers to do what we do at Sunny Hills.”
FJUHSD officials first introduced the incentive, also known as a “golden handshake,” to the school board last November and explained to trustees how much money it could save the district if those at the higher end of the salary scale were to retire. Since they are also anticipating additional years of lower enrollment at each of the district’s six campuses, they told trustees that offering such a deal would alleviate them from having to release recently hired staff.
Board members then unanimously approved the ERI with the condition that it would only go through if 24 or more teachers in the district accepted it by Feb. 7. To be eligible for the offer, instructors had to be at least 55 years old by June 30, 2025.
Upon accepting the deal, teachers had to choose which benefits they would take upon their retirement:
- 60% of their base salary as a single payment or split between July 2025 and January 2026
- 60% of their base salary toward medical benefits
- Two additional years of CalSTRS service credit (doing this would mean instructors can’t work in the district as a substitute or a teacher for five years)
A FINAL ENCORE
After the deadline passed, district officials determined that a total of 43 submitted their requests for taking an early retirement, meeting the required number by nearly double the amount.
“I feel very fortunate because there are many factors that my wife and I considered,” said social science teacher Robert Bradburn, who was hired here in 1999. “This was a good year for me to retire, so I feel very grateful for the [ERI].”
The social science and English departments have the most instructors retiring at three in each. The other two social science teachers are Greg Del Crognale, who started in 1991 as a student teacher and was hired to teach full-time in 1991, and Jeff Gordon, who began first as an assistant coach for girls soccer before teaching a full load of classes in 1993.
For Del Crognale, he said he will miss the friendships that he made with the staff and plans to focus on his family.
“I will be moving with my wife to San Francisco to be closer to our children,” Del Crognale said.
Similarly, Gordon shared his perspective on his long career and said he enjoyed his time at Sunny Hills.
“I will miss working with all of the awesome students and athletes at Sunny Hills,” Gordon said.
Bradburn, who dedicated 26 years to the department, said he found great fulfillment in watching his students grow and succeed over his career.
“I have a painting in my room by a student that shows all kinds of colors pouring out of my classroom,” Bradburn said. “She was saying that there is so much to know, and that in my room, she learned a lot about the world and about how to live her life, which made me really happy.”
Teresa McCarty is among the three in the English Department who will not return this fall.
“I will definitely miss my students more than anything,” said McCarty, who began her journey teaching at Sunny Hills in October of the fall semester in 1995. “I don’t know if I will ever do anything that gives me the same satisfaction as working at Sunny Hills.”
Her colleague Regina Broady taught English at Sunny Hills since 2016 and said she is looking forward to her life after retirement.
“I will continue to ‘shake a leg’ as long as the legs cooperate, [and] I plan to continue writing and publishing books through Broady’s Bookshelf,” she said.
In the science department, physics teacher Chris Peoples is retiring after teaching since 1996.
“As the day nears, I get more nervous,” he said. “I love what I do, I like where I work, I like who I work with and I like my students; there are just a lot of complicating factors.”
Spanish teacher Veronica Deutsch, who started in 2002, and math and computer science teacher Myra Deister round out the rest of the instructors retiring.
“I want [my students] to remember that I taught them the best I could to challenge them and to encourage them to use the language, and to feel accomplished and proud of themselves at the end of the course,” Deutsch said.
Likewise, Deister, who taught since 1987, said she hopes her students remember the content in her class.
“I want my students to remember my computer science class, as it helps them understand what direction the world is going with AI, logical thinking and working with different group members,” the computer science teacher said.
LASTING IMPACTS
With a large number of faculty members retiring, some students were concerned about the impact of the school losing so many long-standing educators.
“I was very surprised at first and a little concerned that maybe something was going on, as these are significant teachers we’re losing,” said junior Sophia Gentile, who first found out Bradburn was retiring during second period last month. “But I also had many of these teachers and recognize that, independently, they all have a lot going on in their lives.”
Senior Zayne Shah agrees with this sentiment.
“On one hand, I feel lucky that I was able to have some of them before they retired, and I am happy that they get to enjoy additional retirement benefits,” Shah said. “However, I feel bad for my junior and underclassmen friends who signed up for classes expecting those teachers and will have to do their next year with a new teacher.”
Still, some look forward to the change as a new opportunity, such as sophomore Sydney Kim, who is in Deister’s third period.
“I was surprised to see that she was retiring, but everyone needs to retire at one point,” Kim said. “I believe that a lot of these new teachers will have big roles to fill, but I am still really excited that we get younger teachers, as these teachers can be more relatable.”
To prepare for the loss of teachers, Weinreich said the district has already begun its search for many of the replacements.
“We are looking forward to having those [teachers] be a part of Sunny Hills, learning how we do things here and help continue the success we have had,” the principal said.
