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Hours before a special school board meeting Friday to discuss a buyout plan, Superintendent John Simpson said he would not recommend a proposal.

鈥淎s we have explored this option in more detail over the last few days, we have learned that if we do offer such an incentive plan, we must provide a significant amount of time (45 days) to employees to consider accepting the incentive plan, along with an additional 7 days to revoke acceptance,鈥� Simpson wrote before the meeting in an email to staff.

Administrators first brought up the possibility of staff buyouts at the board鈥檚 Jan. 25 meeting to address projected revenue shortfalls. The intent was to give veteran staff two weeks to make a decision on accepting an early retirement bonus package.

Only long-term employees would have been eligible for the buyouts, allowing the district to hire new staff at lower salaries. But with the extended timeframe required by federal law, Simpson said, recruitment would not start until after many teachers had already signed contracts for the next school year, limiting the candidate pool.

鈥淲e were already apprehensive about offering a plan this late in the year, but we have concluded that waiting until April to begin our hiring process for next year is simply too late and not in the best interest of our district,鈥� Simpson wrote.

In a 15-minute board meeting Friday, administrators explained the decision to reverse course and not bring a buyout plan up for vote. A buyout proposal could still be revisited in the 2024-2025 school year, Simpson said.

A representative for the Webster Groves teachers鈥� union could not be reached for comment Friday. One parent and former school board candidate said the district leaders should have prepared a buyout plan much earlier.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had enrollment declines that have been pretty evident for the past several years,鈥� said Justin Hauke, who has served on the district鈥檚 finance advisory committee. 鈥淭his issue should have been addressed more proactively two years ago.鈥�

The district has cut costs by trimming some department budgets and letting some open positions go unfilled, the superintendent said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not a Clayton, we鈥檙e not a Ladue, we don鈥檛 have some of the revenue that other people have and the burden falls on our residents,鈥� Simpson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very mindful of again how do our staffing numbers match our enrollment numbers. If we鈥檝e lost 270 kids, we probably don鈥檛 need the same amount of adults.鈥�

Assistant superintendent Pam Frazier said a budget planning committee is looking at other non-personnel budget cuts including utilities, copier usage and software programs.

Current enrollment in the district鈥檚 eight schools is 4,172 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, down from 4,500 five years ago. School revenue is tied to attendance, which is expected to continue its downward trend nationwide primarily because of declining birth rates. The windfall of pandemic relief funds for schools will also dry up this year.

There are 725 employees in the district including 315 certified teachers. An estimated 55 certified teachers and administrators and an unknown number of staff would have qualified for buyouts based on years of service, district leaders said. Webster Groves鈥� maximum salary of nearly $103,000 for the most experienced teachers ranked eighth out of about 550 school districts in the state last year, according to the Missouri National Education Association.