[Washington Post] Ex-Montgomery superintendent McKnight to get $1.3M in separation deal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers involved should get compensation too without having to sue.

+1 Billion. It would be nice to see these teachers get what they so clearly deserve without having to go through the ongoing trauma of legal proceedings.

Even just removing the complicit staff members would go a long way to improving the culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She must have been a special kind of awful for them to be willing to spend that amount to be rid of her.

She is the meanest person I have ever met. Central Office was a highly toxic work environment under her. I suspect that the BOE had no idea who they were truly dealing with until they tried to get rid of her. Then they saw the real person that McKnight truly is.

I don't even know how she in her soul can accept this ridiculous amount of money knowing that it would eventually come out publicly and that people would be outraged and disgusted by it all.

She promoted a serial sexual harassers and bully. She was buddies with him. She's not a good person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BOE should stop adding positions to central office and create some positions that report directly to the BOE, do budget and policy analysis in order to make it possible for the BOE to actually act as a check on the Superintendent.

This is a good idea

[Anonymous]

So the big winner of this whole fiasco is Dr. McKnight. Well played I guess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know some people on here hate the apple ballot but I trust the teachers more than any other group here. They have interviewed all the candidates and aren’t endorsing any of the incumbents. They’ve endorsed—Zimmerman, Stewart, Montoya. Rallying behind the MCEA endorsed candidates is probably the best way to ensure the incumbents get the boot.

The same MCEA that failed to protect their own members from Beidleman's harrassment? What's a union for, if not to protect their members?

But... I do see who they endorsed are all non-incumbents, so that's at least a sign in the right direction.

Union has limited power in Maryland unfortunately. Only good for negotiating salary and benefits. We aren’t even allowed to negotiate class size or the length of the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BOE should stop adding positions to central office and create some positions that report directly to the BOE, do budget and policy analysis in order to make it possible for the BOE to actually act as a check on the Superintendent.

They have in fact just done this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://moco360.media/2024/03/15/mcps-to-pay-mcknight-1-3-million-in-separation-agreement/

$1,183,250 in agreed-upon wages. The payment will be made in two equal lump sum payments with the final payment on or before Jan. 31, 2025;
$30,000 in attorney fees;
$20,225 in deferred compensation;
$18,525 from a tax-sheltered annual annuity plan; and
$48,000 paid to McKnight’s annual annuity account.

Wow, just wow.

I am not a lawyer, but it looks like most of this was part of her contract. You can fire someone, but you still have to pay them what the contract requires.

In addition, if I were a candidate considering being the next MCPS superintendent, I would also insist on a contract like that. Dr. McKnight is the third superintendent in a row to leave early, so job security isn't great.

She had two years left on the contract. Her salary was $320,000 per year. Maybe my math is wrong, but that would be $640,000, not $1,183,250.

Can someone explain the math?

I assumed salary plus benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BOE should stop adding positions to central office and create some positions that report directly to the BOE, do budget and policy analysis in order to make it possible for the BOE to actually act as a check on the Superintendent.

Yes, and I think they need an unbiased consultant(s) to dive into the MCPS organization for a month or 2 and do an Elon Musk-style evaluation to figure out where the redundancies and unnecessary positions are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She must have been a special kind of awful for them to be willing to spend that amount to be rid of her.

She is the meanest person I have ever met. Central Office was a highly toxic work environment under her. I suspect that the BOE had no idea who they were truly dealing with until they tried to get rid of her. Then they saw the real person that McKnight truly is.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She must have been a special kind of awful for them to be willing to spend that amount to be rid of her.

She is the meanest person I have ever met. Central Office was a highly toxic work environment under her. I suspect that the BOE had no idea who they were truly dealing with until they tried to get rid of her. Then they saw the real person that McKnight truly is.

Meaner than Lance Dempsey who still collects a hefty paycheck in CO?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love it.
DCUM is in full meltdown, while Dr. McKnight is smiling all the way to the bank.

Not so sure she will be smiling. I don't think she will be able to replace her 300k per year salary. And I'm pretty sure she has quite a few working years ahead of here.

Believe me, she will find something lucrative after she's done diving into that pile of money (à la ducktales).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BOE should stop adding positions to central office and create some positions that report directly to the BOE, do budget and policy analysis in order to make it possible for the BOE to actually act as a check on the Superintendent.

They have in fact just done this.

How many positions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the big winner of this whole fiasco is Dr. McKnight. Well played I guess

Wait - did Beidleman get a payout? After seeing this debacle with McKnight's payout, I wonder...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She must have been a special kind of awful for them to be willing to spend that amount to be rid of her.

She is the meanest person I have ever met. Central Office was a highly toxic work environment under her. I suspect that the BOE had no idea who they were truly dealing with until they tried to get rid of her. Then they saw the real person that McKnight truly is.

Meaner than Lance Dempsey who still collects a hefty paycheck in CO?

That's a close match-up, but I'd say McKnight was worse, by a few millimeters. It should be part of the new super's contract that they have to fire Dempsey, which Smith actually did. Most unfortunately, McKnight brought her back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the big winner of this whole fiasco is Dr. McKnight. Well played I guess

Wait - did Beidleman get a payout? After seeing this debacle with McKnight's payout, I wonder...

It's sad that it would surprise me more if he didn't get a payout than if he did.