Add Bill Gibson to the list of veteran educators who are taking retirement earlier than they planned.

The principal at Fultondale High School will leave his position effective Dec. 1, joining a long list of faculty and staff at local schools who are retiring.

Gibson’s announcement came a little later than most of his departing colleagues, and came partly due to family reasons.

“I didn’t realize that the first part of my retirement papers had been submitted,” Gibson said. “But when I got my letter in November, it made me rethink the process. I considered the increases in PEEHIP [the state health insurance plan] and the increased retirement contributions, and decided this was the best thing to do for my family. The biggest thing was the uncertainty of future cuts by the state legislature, until they find a better source of funding for education.”

Gibson took over as interim principal in September 2010. He replaced Donna Williamon, who resigned to take a job in the private sector.

“I hated to leave the students and teachers there at Fultondale, but this was the time to step away,” Gibson said.

This is the second retirement for Gibson; he came to Fultondale after retiring as principal at Shelby County High School. He was also previously an agriculture sciences teacher at Corner High, and was an assistant principal at Gardendale High.

Like numerous others, Gibson’s retirement was primarily caused by a law passed late in the Alabama Legislature’s recent session. That law requires state employees, including teachers and school staff, to pay more for health insurance and contribute a greater percentage to their retirement, unless they retire before Dec. 31. The change would mean a net loss of several thousand dollars a year for many retirement-eligible workers.

The deadline comes at a difficult time for schools, as they are forced to make major changes during the middle of the fall semester.

Several legislators, including Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Gardendale, said they did not know about that particular problem with the bill until it was too late in the session. They had hoped to fix the problem in a special session to be called regarding the Jefferson County sewer debt crisis, but the county declared bankruptcy instead and the session was never called by Gov. Robert Bentley.

Gibson’s departure means that the principals of both the city’s schools are retiring. Cynde Cornelius is leaving her post at Fultondale Elementary as well.

No replacements have yet been named for either principal.