ESCONDIDO -- Escondido Union School District employees who notify the district by March 26 of their plans to retire before the next school year are eligible for a one-time bonus under a plan approved by trustees Thursday night.

The agreement, a first for the district, is an attempt by officials to pin down the number of positions that will be available in the coming school year as they face millions of dollars in state funding cuts, Bob Leon, the assistant superintendent of human resources, said.

It's one of many cost-saving options -- that could include cutting staff -- being weighed to cope with an expected $12 million loss in revenues from the 2008-09 district budget, Leon said.

"This is kind of a different concept that we are bringing forward to you," Leon told trustees during their regular board meeting. "It's not an early retirement incentive, but an early notification incentive."

After the meeting, Leon said: "It's to get an idea of who is returning and who isn't. (If we knew a person was retiring) it could make room for a teacher who, instead of leaving, can remain."

State law requires that school districts notify teachers by March 15 if there will not be a job available the following school year.

School districts are one segment of many government agencies statewide looking at a nearly 10 percent cut in funding under a proposal Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put forth in January. The proposed cuts are part of an effort to erase an estimated $14.5 billion revenue shortfall, which is expected to grow.

The state has tightened its belt on some state spending in the current year.

Last week, lawmakers decided to push about $2 billion in expenditures to the next fiscal year and bank roughly $507 million in funds for California's K-12 public schools and its colleges and universities for the rest of the year, ending June 30.

Under the school district's incentive plan, which has to be approved by the district's two unions, employees who tell the district by March 8 that they will be retiring for the 2008-09 school year will receive a $1,000 bonus, Leon said.

Employees who notify the district about such plans between March 8 and March 26 will receive a $500 bonus.

Leon said district officials would like to have as clear of an idea as possible about the number of planned retirements before they have to decide how many teachers will receive layoff notices.

Meanwhile, the district has organized a budget communications committee to help spread information about the elementary and middle school district's financial status and recommend possible cost-saving measures. The committee includes parents, teachers, nonteaching staff members and district officials.

Officials have added two public meetings to their calendar, one next Thursdsay and one on March 5, to discuss proposed cuts.

Updates on next year's budget, meeting agendas and a copy of the 2007-08 budget are available on the district's Web site at www.eusd4kids.org.

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416or schabner@nctimes.com.