Gaithersburg Principal leaving MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be more.

Of course. Who wants to work for such a dysfunctional institution. MCPS is a mess. Very frustrating for staff and admins.

It's actually a great place to work when compared to other school systems. You need to find a new hobby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many MCPS high school principals are we up to now that are leaving this school year?

Six: Blair, Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, WJ, Seneca Valley

Great! The system could use some new blood.

[Anonymous]

If staff like diversity they tend to enjoy MCPS. If you are control freak, MCPS is not the right fit for staff/admin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have enough years in the system, you can retire, collect your pension, and also collect a paycheck. The bigger question is, why wouldn’t you do that? Once you've maxed out your pension, there isn’t a lot to be gained by staying. You can invest the pension, live on the new income, and have a lot more security later on in retirement. There’s a catch if you collect social security before retirement age, in which case there’s a ceiling on what you can earn without being taxed, but if you don’t start collecting social security payments there’s no ceiling on what you can earn.

Needless to say, you have to be marketable. If you want to make the same $ or more, and you’re making, say, 180k and would collect a pension of 124k if you left, but you only can find a job that would pay you $100k, then you’d be taking a financial hit by leaving. I know teachers at the top of the pay scale who are staying until retirement age or at least until they have more financial security because they wouldn’t be able to make as much money anywhere else. I also know teachers who don’t care that they’ll take a hit because they’re so miserable. Long way of saying, it’s a complicated financial and personal assessment. For someone like Dimmick, who is respected and clearly was able to find another high paying job (and presumably isn’t collecting social security yet), leaving will allow him to double dip. He can take his 124k or whatever pension, and also make another 180 or whatever as a principal in another county. He could be miserable in mcps, or he could just be making a smart financial decision. Anything anyone speculates here is just a guess.

I agree with everything you said except for the $124K pension from an $180K salary. Isn't the pension 62% of the top average salaries?

[Anonymous]

I’m no mathematician and you’re right that the number is a bit lower. I could still be wrong but maybe $108?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have enough years in the system, you can retire, collect your pension, and also collect a paycheck. The bigger question is, why wouldn’t you do that? Once you've maxed out your pension, there isn’t a lot to be gained by staying. You can invest the pension, live on the new income, and have a lot more security later on in retirement. There’s a catch if you collect social security before retirement age, in which case there’s a ceiling on what you can earn without being taxed, but if you don’t start collecting social security payments there’s no ceiling on what you can earn.

Needless to say, you have to be marketable. If you want to make the same $ or more, and you’re making, say, 180k and would collect a pension of 124k if you left, but you only can find a job that would pay you $100k, then you’d be taking a financial hit by leaving. I know teachers at the top of the pay scale who are staying until retirement age or at least until they have more financial security because they wouldn’t be able to make as much money anywhere else. I also know teachers who don’t care that they’ll take a hit because they’re so miserable. Long way of saying, it’s a complicated financial and personal assessment. For someone like Dimmick, who is respected and clearly was able to find another high paying job (and presumably isn’t collecting social security yet), leaving will allow him to double dip. He can take his 124k or whatever pension, and also make another 180 or whatever as a principal in another county. He could be miserable in mcps, or he could just be making a smart financial decision. Anything anyone speculates here is just a guess.

You have to be 65 years old to be fully vested in your pension now, correct? If the educator has been in the system for 35 or more years, they are vested no matter what their age, is that correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many MCPS high school principals are we up to now that are leaving this school year?

Six: Blair, Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, WJ, Seneca Valley

Great! The system could use some new blood.

LOL. Where do you think the ‘new blood’ is going to come from? Not like there are oodles of candidates trying to become principals in MCPS.

The good candidates are leaving for other districts and finding jobs elsewhere.

What we really need is new blood in the BOE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have enough years in the system, you can retire, collect your pension, and also collect a paycheck. The bigger question is, why wouldn’t you do that? Once you've maxed out your pension, there isn’t a lot to be gained by staying. You can invest the pension, live on the new income, and have a lot more security later on in retirement. There’s a catch if you collect social security before retirement age, in which case there’s a ceiling on what you can earn without being taxed, but if you don’t start collecting social security payments there’s no ceiling on what you can earn.

Needless to say, you have to be marketable. If you want to make the same $ or more, and you’re making, say, 180k and would collect a pension of 124k if you left, but you only can find a job that would pay you $100k, then you’d be taking a financial hit by leaving. I know teachers at the top of the pay scale who are staying until retirement age or at least until they have more financial security because they wouldn’t be able to make as much money anywhere else. I also know teachers who don’t care that they’ll take a hit because they’re so miserable. Long way of saying, it’s a complicated financial and personal assessment. For someone like Dimmick, who is respected and clearly was able to find another high paying job (and presumably isn’t collecting social security yet), leaving will allow him to double dip. He can take his 124k or whatever pension, and also make another 180 or whatever as a principal in another county. He could be miserable in mcps, or he could just be making a smart financial decision. Anything anyone speculates here is just a guess.

You have to be 65 years old to be fully vested in your pension now, correct? If the educator has been in the system for 35 or more years, they are vested no matter what their age, is that correct?

Anyone hired before 2011 has to work 30yrs to get full pension. I know staff who started at age 22 in MCPS and can retire in their early 50s with full retirement. The pension is about half of the final years of salary. Medical insurance is taken out though if they keep it. Anyone hired after July 2011 has to follow age plus years of service equals 90. Or at least 10 years to get vested and then start collecting at age 65.

Presumably anyone leaving MCPS to Virginia is under the old pension system and in their early 50’s. I don’t think the pension alone with medical taken out is enough to cover expenses alone in this situation for most people especially if you have kids in college or a house to pay for. Most teachers stay longer, get side jobs while collecting pensions, or rely on a still working spouse. Some try retire/rehire but that is tough to get approval for.

[Anonymous]

When the good administrators are leaving, and the bad ones are protected, you have a huge issue. Make no mistake, Mr. Dimmick was great for GHS and MCPS. He will be missed. MCPS needs to figure out how to turn the ship around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When the good administrators are leaving, and the bad ones are protected, you have a huge issue. Make no mistake, Mr. Dimmick was great for GHS and MCPS. He will be missed. MCPS needs to figure out how to turn the ship around.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If staff like diversity they tend to enjoy MCPS. If you are control freak, MCPS is not the right fit for staff/admin.

It's a-d-versity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have enough years in the system, you can retire, collect your pension, and also collect a paycheck. The bigger question is, why wouldn’t you do that? Once you've maxed out your pension, there isn’t a lot to be gained by staying. You can invest the pension, live on the new income, and have a lot more security later on in retirement. There’s a catch if you collect social security before retirement age, in which case there’s a ceiling on what you can earn without being taxed, but if you don’t start collecting social security payments there’s no ceiling on what you can earn.

Needless to say, you have to be marketable. If you want to make the same $ or more, and you’re making, say, 180k and would collect a pension of 124k if you left, but you only can find a job that would pay you $100k, then you’d be taking a financial hit by leaving. I know teachers at the top of the pay scale who are staying until retirement age or at least until they have more financial security because they wouldn’t be able to make as much money anywhere else. I also know teachers who don’t care that they’ll take a hit because they’re so miserable. Long way of saying, it’s a complicated financial and personal assessment. For someone like Dimmick, who is respected and clearly was able to find another high paying job (and presumably isn’t collecting social security yet), leaving will allow him to double dip. He can take his 124k or whatever pension, and also make another 180 or whatever as a principal in another county. He could be miserable in mcps, or he could just be making a smart financial decision. Anything anyone speculates here is just a guess.

You have to be 65 years old to be fully vested in your pension now, correct? If the educator has been in the system for 35 or more years, they are vested no matter what their age, is that correct?

Anyone hired before 2011 has to work 30yrs to get full pension. I know staff who started at age 22 in MCPS and can retire in their early 50s with full retirement. The pension is about half of the final years of salary. Medical insurance is taken out though if they keep it. Anyone hired after July 2011 has to follow age plus years of service equals 90. Or at least 10 years to get vested and then start collecting at age 65.

Presumably anyone leaving MCPS to Virginia is under the old pension system and in their early 50’s. I don’t think the pension alone with medical taken out is enough to cover expenses alone in this situation for most people especially if you have kids in college or a house to pay for. Most teachers stay longer, get side jobs while collecting pensions, or rely on a still working spouse. Some try retire/rehire but that is tough to get approval for.

Dimmick started in MCPS in 1993, so yes, 31 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When the good administrators are leaving, and the bad ones are protected, you have a huge issue. Make no mistake, Mr. Dimmick was great for GHS and MCPS. He will be missed. MCPS needs to figure out how to turn the ship around.

More good people will leave if they make the interim superintendent the permanent selection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When the good administrators are leaving, and the bad ones are protected, you have a huge issue. Make no mistake, Mr. Dimmick was great for GHS and MCPS. He will be missed. MCPS needs to figure out how to turn the ship around.

More good people will leave if they make the interim superintendent the permanent selection.

YUP! Too many members of the school board seem persuaded that Felder is a force for good. Not so. She's more of the same old guard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When the good administrators are leaving, and the bad ones are protected, you have a huge issue. Make no mistake, Mr. Dimmick was great for GHS and MCPS. He will be missed. MCPS needs to figure out how to turn the ship around.

More good people will leave if they make the interim superintendent the permanent selection.

YUP! Too many members of the school board seem persuaded that Felder is a force for good. Not so. She's more of the same old guard.

Unfortunately, the fix is probably already in.