Castro Valley Unified Pensions: What Retirees Are Receiving

Almost 250 retired employees from the Castro Valley Unified School District are now drawing pensions from the California Public Employees Retirement System.

The retirement compensation is part of a list posted by the San Jose Mercury News and other newspapers.

The CalPERS list was unveiled as the state Legislature last week approved a pension reform bill that is now on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk.

Among other reforms, the legislation raises the retirement age for most new employees from 55 to 67 to receive full benefits. It also eliminates so-called "double dipping" and caps the pensions of highly paid retired workers.

The list names 247 former CVUSD workers who draw a wide range of pensions.

At the top is Elizabeth Blasquez, the retired assistant superintendent who spent 30 years in the district. She was earning $15,400 a month when she retired. She now collects $11,500 a month in pension, or about $135,000 a year.

Right behind is James Fitzpatrick, who worked for the district for 38 years and served as superintendent from 2000 to 2008.

Fitzpatrick was earning $20,600 a month when he retired. He now collects a pension of $11,300 a month.

Next is James O'Connor, the retired deputy superintendent who worked in the district for 40 years. O'Conner was earning $11,800 a month when he retired. He now collects $10,500 a month in pension.

Of the 250 district CalPERS retirees, there were 23 retirees listed who collect less than $1,000 a month in pension.

Castro Valley Unified Superintendent Jim Negri said the pensions are a program the employees signed up for and paid into while they worked. He noted they do not collect Social Security benefits.

"They came to work with the understanding that this was their retirement system," he said.

Negri said he has "mixed feelings" about the pension reforms adopted by the state Legislature.

He said the practice of "spiking," where unused vacation and other items are used to inflate a pension, needed to be overhauled.

He added there also needed to be changes to deal with the long-term costs of public employee pension systems.