Several Ventura County school districts are offering teachers early retirement incentives, hoping to save money in budgets threatened by further cuts.

Early retirements save districts money because teachers with years of experience make much more than their colleagues starting out on the job -- as much as $40,000 a year more.

Among the districts offering or considering the incentives: Conejo Valley, Las Virgenes, Pleasant Valley and Hueneme.

"For every teacher who retires at $70,000, there's a substantial savings," said Robert Fraisse, superintendent of the Conejo Valley Unified School District. "If you can share those savings between benefits for employees and savings for the district, that's where you get the win-win."

Last month, the Las Virgenes school board approved an incentive that would give retiring teachers a bonus of $40,000 over five years.

Also last month, the Hueneme Elementary District started offering teachers a one-time retirement incentive of $20,000, split into two payments.

When the district made a similar offer last year, 24 teachers retired, saving $410,000.

And last year, 33 teachers in the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District took early retirement, saving the district roughly $700,000.

Of course, some of those savings go to retirement benefits for the departing teachers, but the districts still come out ahead as they try to balance their budgets.

"We still have to reduce costs to cover any salary increases or benefits a district might want to provide," said Debra Reeves, business administrator for Hueneme schools.

On Tuesday, the Conejo Valley school board will consider a proposal that would give teachers a monthly supplement, ranging from 2 percent and 4 percent of their final salary.

For a teacher at the top end of the salary scale, that could mean an additional $2,000 or so a month.

If the board approves the proposal, the district will save a minimum of $100,000 in the first year, Fraisse said.

The amount will vary depending on how many teachers take advantage of the plan and how old they are.

Teachers said the proposal is welcome in tough economic times.

"Anytime you can offer the employees something positive, that's a morale boost," said Susan Falk, president of Conejo Unified teachers union.