Winfield - Putnam County continues to see an increase in the number of teachers and staff retiring.
Twenty-four Putnam County Schools employees announced their retirement and were approved by the school board Monday night.
Putnam County Schools Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said the increase in retirement numbers could possibly be a result of the early notification for retirement incentive.
Employees who notify the school board of their retirement before Jan. 15 will receive a $500 stipend as well as one year of free dental and optical insurance, Hatfield said.
"It's an incentive program for them so that they'll notify us earlier so we'll know what our needs are for next year and get those things in mind," he said.
Hatfield said there has been an increase in the number of employees retiring over the last three years, with this year having the most retirees.
"We're going through a group that is qualified for retirement," Hatfield said. "We are seeing a trend of people retiring in the system."
In addition to approving the retirements, the Putnam County Board of Education created a new special needs preschool teaching position for Mountainview Elementary School because of increased enrollment.
Hatfield said this increased enrollment isn't unusual because three-year-olds are eligible for the program.
The new position should be posted by Thursday and will remain open for five business days, Hatfield said.
The West Virginia Office of Educational Performance Audits also recently audited Putnam County Schools.
Hatfield said he was pleased with the outcome after participating in the exit interviews.
The auditors visited every school in Putnam County and rated the schools in various areas, while the official report hasn't been filed yet, Hatfield expects it will be positive.
"We don't have anything formal in writing yet, but we feel that our schools did very well and some areas we need to improve on were identified," Hatfield said.
Hatfield also reminded board members and the audience that the Putnam County Spelling Bee will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday.