CHARLESTON -- Although the deadline is less than a week away, supporters of a plan allowing teachers and other school employees to leave West Virginia's only public 401(k)-style retirement plan believe it will win enough backing to be implemented.

Enrollees have until May 12 to elect to transfer to another state-run pension plan, and as of Friday they remained well short of the required number. Just 2,251 Teachers' Defined Contribution plan participants had requested transfers as of Friday, according to the latest figure posted by the state's Consolidated Public Retirement Board.

Transfers will occur only if at least 65 percent, or 12,343 enrollees, make that choice. Those who don't would still keep their individual TDC accounts.

Transfer supporters believe they still can meet the threshold.

"I do feel better about things, based on the workshops our staff did this week all over the state," said Judy Hale, president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia. "We've gotten to as many people as we can."

Though enrollees have until May 12 to elect to transfer, Monday was when they could hand in the necessary forms at their schools or offices.

Officials expected heavy turnout for "Selection Day."

Cabell County Schools spokesman Jedd Flowers said many employees, including himself, turned in their transfer papers to the Central Office. And he said early reports from principals indicated school teachers and staff also were turning in their transfer papers.

Some employees, though, are waiting to make a decision until they meet with a certified retirement consultant at one of the high schools Wednesday evening.

Enrollees can also tinker with their salary and other variables on the Web site set up for them to calculate future benefits under either plan. Besides a series of recent statewide pay hikes, including a $1,600 one approved this year, a number of counties also supplement their teachers' pay.

"They can go and put their own numbers in," said Anne Lambright, the board's executive director. "Whatever number they think they county is going to give them, they can put it in."

If successful, the transfers would join the Teachers' Retirement System. It guarantees a benefit based on years of service and final salaries. But transfers would receive only 75 percent of normal benefits, because system members have been paying more of their annual salaries toward their pensions, 6 percent versus 4.5 percent for TDC.

The transfer plan allows makeup payments to secure that additional 25 percent. The amount will depend on how many TDC enrollees transfer. The state has promised to subsidize these payments -- but only if 75 percent or more move.

Lambright's office has included those makeup costs in the personalized statements mailed to enrollees, where they have caused a sort of sticker shock.

"You get down to the bottom of the page, and it just gives you a massive coronary," said Carolyn Welder, whose husband has driven a school bus for Cabell County since the early 1990s and turns 64 later this year.

Welder supports the transfer, but fears TDC enrollees may not realize that the makeup payments are optional.

"The word needs to get out that if they do nothing but elect to transfer, they're going to have more of a retirement check in the end without making that payment," she said. "The buyback is not necessary."

Lawmakers provided for the voluntary switch-overs after fielding complaints that TDC accounts weren't yielding enough returns for retirement. Blame has ranged from negligent oversight by individual enrollees and shoddy advice from state-hired consultants to the inherent risks of playing the stock market.

The transfer selection process began April 1. Some advocates have sought more time, without success.

A final tally of transfers is due June 1. That's because the state's budget year ends June 30, and TDC enrollees need to decide by then whether they will retire before the next school year. The board, in turn, needs time to liquidate the individual accounts of those who elect to transfer and relay the proceeds into the other program's fund.

"We can't do in less than one month," Lambright said. "Some people have five or six investments. It's a very, very complicated process. ... We're stretched out as far as we can go."

The Herald-Dispatch reporter Bill Rosenberger contributed to this report.

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