Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is one of the few school districts in the country to offer both a state (Virginia Retirement System) and a supplemental Defined Benefit pension (ERFC) —in addition to contributing to Social Security for qualifying staff. However, one of the three plan designs at ERFC did not align with the VRS plan design, preventing members from maximizing both pensions and resulting in FCPS losing experienced staff to other school districts. To address this issue, the Fairfax County School Board voted to implement a Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP), beginning July 1, 2024. DROP allows the affected Plan members to retire for the purposes of the ERFC pension while continuing to work as an active employee with FCPS until reaching full retirement with both pension plans.
The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) hosted a webinar featuring Missie O’Neal, ERFC Executive Director (acting) and Kevin Spanier, Gallagher Principal, Public Sector Retirement Operations Leader to discuss the staff and actuarial challenges they faced in rolling out DROP to improve employee retention.