BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – With schools opening next week across Alabama, many districts are still trying to fill jobs – and new retirement data show they are continuing to lose experienced employees at an elevated rate.
The Retirement Systems of Alabama recorded 3,450 retirements tied to local school systems during the year ending June 30. That equals 3.45 retirements for every 100 certified and support full-time-equivalent positions reported by school systems.
Certified positions include teachers and other jobs that require a professional certificate. Support positions include jobs such as bus drivers, teacher aides and lunchroom workers.
The rate was down slightly from 3,570 retirements – 3.63 retirements per 100 FTEs – in 2024-25 and remained below the 11-year high of 3.80 in 2020-21.
Still, the 2025-26 rate was higher than in each of the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
SEE THE DATA: Alabama Daily News created an interactive dashboard where readers can view retirement totals and rates for each school system for 2015-16 through 2025-26. The dashboard is best viewed on a large screen.
The rate has moved up and down over the past decade, falling to 2.92 retirements per 100 FTEs in 2022-23, the lowest rate in the 11 years examined, before climbing again.
One reason for the recent increase may be a large experience-based pay raise lawmakers approved beginning in the 2022-23 school year.
Cullman County Superintendent Shane Barnette said his district expected a large group of employees to retire in 2024-25, after they had worked three years under the higher salary schedule. But some who were eligible to retire stayed one more year, adding to the number who retired in 2025-26.
“We expected to have several retire last year because it was the end of the three-year cycle after the teachers received a significant raise from the state,” Barnette said. “However, many of the employees had reached retirement age but decided to stay one more year, which in turn raised our numbers this year as well.”
RSA reported 68 retirements in Cullman County Schools in 2025-26. That equals 5.7 retirements for every 100 certified and support FTEs, the seventh-highest rate among Alabama’s traditional school systems.
Barnette said the retirees included both certified and classified employees, although most were certified. Many had worked for more than 30 years.
“We have had a veteran-heavy faculty and staff for a while, and I feel like many of them are now moving on into retirement,” he said. “We will definitely miss them.”
Finding replacements has been difficult.
“I know many districts have experienced these struggles for years, but this summer has been the toughest for us yet,” Barnette said.
Cullman City Schools also ranked in the top 10 highest rates, with 23 retirements tied to the system by RSA, or 5.8 retirements per 100 FTEs.
Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff said 18 people working for the system retired between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. Thirteen were certified employees and five were classified.
Kallhoff said some people counted by RSA had left Cullman City before they officially retired. For example, an employee might leave the system in June but not formally retire until August or October.
Kallhoff said several recent retirees had worked in Cullman City Schools for more than 30 years.
“It is hard to replace that knowledge base and experience,” he said.
Jason Barnett, executive director of the School Superintendents of Alabama, said the staffing picture varies widely from one district to another. Rural systems often have fewer applicants than suburban systems, he said, while some jobs remain especially hard to fill across the state.
“It varies from district to district,” Barnett said. “But one thing that almost all, if not all, superintendents face challenges with right now is special education.”
He said school systems are recruiting more actively, starting “grow your own” programs to help local people become teachers and expanding mentoring for new teachers.
“They’re having to get more and more creative,” Barnett said. “It is a challenge.”
Barnett also said the higher salary schedule persuaded some experienced teachers to delay retirement because the added pay would increase their retirement benefits. His own mother had submitted her retirement papers before deciding to stay after the salary schedule changed.
“I do think that salary increase made a huge difference,” he said.
For this analysis, Alabama Daily News divided each system’s July-to-June retirements by its certified and support FTEs reported through the state’s LEAPS personnel system in October of the same school year. The statewide calculation included all eligible school-system FTEs, including systems with no retirements.
Retirement rates can rise sharply in small systems. In a district or charter school with only a few dozen employees, two or three retirements can produce one of the highest rates in the state. The rates should therefore be considered alongside each system’s workforce size and actual number of retirements.
The figures show retirements, not total employee turnover. They do not include teachers or support workers who were not rehired at the end of the school year, moved to another school system or left education for another kind of work.