TAHOE/ TRUCKEE — Ten Tahoe Truckee Unified School District teachers agreed to the latest early retirement incentive, saving 10 teachers who would have been laid off for the 2009-10 school year.

Those who decided to retire met a deadline that expired Friday, and will be paid $15,000. They will then hand their position off to a teacher who didn’t have one.

David Inns, the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, confirmed the new buyout incentive was enough for two more teachers at the elementary level to accept the buyout. Eight had accepted the original incentive earlier this year.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” Inns said. “We put together the best package we could, we made our very best effort.”

The original buyout package — which would have awarded the $15,000 to teachers only if 15 took it — was criticized by Tahoe Truckee Education Association (TTEA) President Mike Merriman as paltry.

A layoff resolution passed last month called for the elimination of 47 Full Time equivalent positions, which union Vice President Jon Halvorsen said now stands at about 30 FTEs once the retirements, a resignation and non-general funded positions are subtracted.

“Obviously, much better than the original layoffs numbers, but still extremely difficult for our schools and even more so for the teachers who make up that list,” Halvorsen said. “That is why TTEA is working extremely hard with the district to continue to find alternative solutions to our budget problems so that we can keep as many teachers in our schools as possible.”