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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not unless the benefits for the remainder of her contract (2 years) is $563,250. Her salary was $320,000 annually.

Here is the payment breakdown:

$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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/03/15/mcknight-separation-agreement-montgomery-county-schools/
By Nicole Asbury
March 15, 2024 at 5:25 p.m. EDT

Former Montgomery County Schools superintendent Monifa B. McKnight will receive $1.3 million as a part of her separation agreement with the school board, according to a document released Friday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/47f5e0ca-3cb8-47b2-b966-8028bf4279c9.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_2

Most of the payout covers “agreed upon wages,” though it also includes $30,000 to cover her attorney fees, according to the agreement obtained by The Washington Post through a public records request. McKnight’s attorney, Jason Downs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“All decisions the Board makes are made in the best interest of our students and our school system,” the school board said in a statement provided by President Karla Silvestre. “It is imperative that anything that distracts from high quality teaching and learning is minimized.”

The board’s statement did not directly reference McKnight or the details of the separation agreement.

As a part of her separation deal, McKnight agreed not to sue the school board over any matter that happened before she signed the deal on Feb. 28. But the agreement adds she is not prevented from “testifying honestly … in any action or proceeding adverse to the interests” of the school board if she were subpoenaed.

Both McKnight and the school board agreed to avoid making any disparaging statements about one another, according to the agreement.

McKnight announced on Feb. 2 that she reached a “mutually agreed separation” with the school board amid questions over how the district handled sexual harassment, bullying and other allegations involving a former principal. She was about two years into a four-year contract when she stepped down.

McKnight, who had nearly two decades of experience with the Montgomery school system, was hired as superintendent in 2022 at a base salary of $320,000 — making her one of the state’s top paid school leaders.

Among other details of the agreement: McKnight’s child is allowed to continue attending Montgomery County schools, even if her family chooses to move outside of the county.

Jill Ortman-Fouse, a former county board of education member, questioned the school system covering $30,000 of McKnight’s attorney fees. “It seems exorbitant,” Ortman-Fouse said. “It also seems weird that MCPS would be paying for her personal attorney fees.”

Since McKnight’s departure, the school board hired Monique Felder, a former North Carolina superintendent, as the district’s interim leader. The school board has launched a national search for the next superintendent and asked for community input as it undergoes the process.

“We are actively planning for the future to ensure that our schools continue to thrive and meet the needs of our diverse community,” the school board said in its statement.

So she can testify honestly as long as she doesn't disparage the BOE? That does not seem consistent.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully she never finds a job again and truly needs this payout from our pockets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m mad about this. Funds are frozen and we cannot buy any classroom supplies because of the budget shortfall and our office manager keeps screeching that we should not do paper assignments in class because paper is expensive and it turns out MCPS is just blowing through stacks of cash for legal settlements. It is depressing how far MCPS has fallen

If your principal is saying you can’t buy needed instructional materials they are NOT following guidance from the Central Office. Call them out! Find out who your principal reports to and tell them what is going on at your school. Contact the interim super. Contact every BOE member and then copy those emails and addresses and post them on your personal social media accounts and ask everyone else to call out your principal as well. What your principal is doing is absolutely contrary to guidance from above.

[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.

This is a good idea

Teachers have been saying this for years! There also should be an independent IG dedicated solely to MCPS oversight. The MCPS IG should have an entirely separate budget and subpoena authority. The BOE should be a FULL-TIME job with FULL-TIME pay. The members are currently paid $25,000 ($30,000 for the chair). That salary makes it impossible for many qualified candidates to run. The BOE also needs more staff, as noted above, because they pretty much rubber stamp whatever the MCPS staff presents. The BOE just does not have enough qualified staff to really ride herd over MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is a good idea

Teachers have been saying this for years! There also should be an independent IG dedicated solely to MCPS oversight. The MCPS IG should have an entirely separate budget and subpoena authority. The BOE should be a FULL-TIME job with FULL-TIME pay. The members are currently paid $25,000 ($30,000 for the chair). That salary makes it impossible for many qualified candidates to run. The BOE also needs more staff, as noted above, because they pretty much rubber stamp whatever the MCPS staff presents. The BOE just does not have enough qualified staff to really ride herd over MCPS.

These are all great ideas. From watching BOE meetings, the BOE members don't even think to ask tough questions. It's like they were handed a rubber stamp upon being elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m mad about this. Funds are frozen and we cannot buy any classroom supplies because of the budget shortfall and our office manager keeps screeching that we should not do paper assignments in class because paper is expensive and it turns out MCPS is just blowing through stacks of cash for legal settlements. It is depressing how far MCPS has fallen

If your principal is saying you can’t buy needed instructional materials they are NOT following guidance from the Central Office. Call them out! Find out who your principal reports to and tell them what is going on at your school. Contact the interim super. Contact every BOE member and then copy those emails and addresses and post them on your personal social media accounts and ask everyone else to call out your principal as well. What your principal is doing is absolutely contrary to guidance from above.

Why is this disconnect between CO and school-based admin so pervasive? Why parents and teachers have to figure out which side is telling the truth and escalate things like to the BOE? This is a sign of a deeply dysfunctional system.

[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.

The union DID forward information to MCPS and DID advocate for the teachers. MCEA did not know about the anonymous allegations because they were anonymous. Nobody (including MCEA) knew that MCPS was routinely ignoring the many anonymous complaints. Nobody knew the extent of the cronyism and cover-ups within MCPS except for those who were actively participating in the reprehensible behavior. Nobody knew about the total breakdown of the complaint system. I DO agree that once the Post started asking questions and supplying evidence to the BOE that something was terribly amiss, the BOE was more concerned about trying to downplay the seriousness of the issues than in getting to the bottom of it all. They were ham-handed and they do not deserve to be re-elected. They failed. Time to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"McKnight’s child is allowed to continue attending Montgomery County schools, even if her family chooses to move outside of the county."

Don't pay Montgomery County taxes, but go to Montgomery County Public Schools.

Is this legal?

So many people do this though. It's just how things work in MoCo.

Only poor people get in trouble for this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully she never finds a job again and truly needs this payout from our pockets

I doubt it. I think the education sector is horribly corrupt. Notice the state superintendent which supposedly oversees all the school systems has been silent throughout this. I do not think they care about the kids at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m mad about this. Funds are frozen and we cannot buy any classroom supplies because of the budget shortfall and our office manager keeps screeching that we should not do paper assignments in class because paper is expensive and it turns out MCPS is just blowing through stacks of cash for legal settlements. It is depressing how far MCPS has fallen

If your principal is saying you can’t buy needed instructional materials they are NOT following guidance from the Central Office. Call them out! Find out who your principal reports to and tell them what is going on at your school. Contact the interim super. Contact every BOE member and then copy those emails and addresses and post them on your personal social media accounts and ask everyone else to call out your principal as well. What your principal is doing is absolutely contrary to guidance from above.

Kindly post that guidance from Central Office. You don't have it, do you? You don't have it because you're not an MCPS employee. Anyone who works for MCPS knows just how laughable your advice is. Do not tell teachers, who are on the bottom rung, to call out their principals and financial directors, with admin. That changes none of their personal access to resources. It just gets them into serious trouble with their supervisor and gets them bullied from above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The elections are 5/14. Harris, Smondrowski, and Evans are the incumbents on the ballot this time around. Vote them out.

Evans definitely and likely Harris would have supported McKnight getting this kind of contract. Smondrowski would have argued against it, and would have protested letting McKnight get away with taking so much $ away from students and staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m mad about this. Funds are frozen and we cannot buy any classroom supplies because of the budget shortfall and our office manager keeps screeching that we should not do paper assignments in class because paper is expensive and it turns out MCPS is just blowing through stacks of cash for legal settlements. It is depressing how far MCPS has fallen

If your principal is saying you can’t buy needed instructional materials they are NOT following guidance from the Central Office. Call them out! Find out who your principal reports to and tell them what is going on at your school. Contact the interim super. Contact every BOE member and then copy those emails and addresses and post them on your personal social media accounts and ask everyone else to call out your principal as well. What your principal is doing is absolutely contrary to guidance from above.

Kindly post that guidance from Central Office. You don't have it, do you? You don't have it because you're not an MCPS employee. Anyone who works for MCPS knows just how laughable your advice is. Do not tell teachers, who are on the bottom rung, to call out their principals and financial directors, with admin. That changes none of their personal access to resources. It just gets them into serious trouble with their supervisor and gets them bullied from above.

This. Teachers are helpless in MCPS. The dysfunction runs so deep and is impossible to fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were they a DEI hire?

Yes. One who did extremely well for herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The elections are 5/14. Harris, Smondrowski, and Evans are the incumbents on the ballot this time around. Vote them out.

Evans definitely and likely Harris would have supported McKnight getting this kind of contract. Smondrowski would have argued against it, and would have protested letting McKnight get away with taking so much $ away from students and staff.

Some members probably went along with the $1.3 million, to get the system forward moving, and if that is the amount of money needed to persuade some on the board to go along with this personnel decision, so be it.

But here is the thing: in the end, it was a group decision. They ALL own this decision - ALL OF THEM. Vote accordingly.