School District 6 will have 18 teachers retire by the end of next school year as part of a retirement incentive program, said Mikie Kimmet, District 6 human resources clerk.

Michael Christensen, Michaelan DeHerrara, Cheree Deisenroth, Dan Fairbank, Bob Spencer and Teresa Tekulve are retiring this year. Five of which had already announced their retirement when the board of trustees approved the incentive program in April. The incentive program required a minimum of 12 teachers and maximum of 20 to participate. The names of the other retiring teachers haven’t been released yet.

The program is a way for the district to save money. A new teacher without experience would cost the district about $40,700 annually. The tenured teachers cost about $66,000. The district will pay the retirees $15,000 over three years, or a lump sum.

The program will cost more in the short run, but the district will save $10,000 to $15,000 per position by 2018, for a maximum savings of $255,000 for that year.

Also included in the program is an additional insurance benefit of $1,500.

This is on top of an annual insurance premium of $6,500 paid to retired teachers for two years as part of their contract.