This penalty was assessed because the Pleasantdale School Board and administration never changed their teacher and administrator contracts prior to Middle School Assistant Principal Kim Freislinger's retirement resulting in huge penalties when she chose the Early Retirement Option (ERO) according to the Teacher's Retirement System.
The sad thing about this penalty is that it could have been prevented, had people been doing their job!
Five years ago, the Illinois Association of School Boards sent a letter to school districts across the state warning them of Public Act 94-0004.
The letter stated, "The new law contains provisions regarding contractual salary increases and sick leave allowance that could result in school boards owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Teachers' Retirement System." It went on to say, "As a local school board member, you need to become familiar with this law before entering into your next collective bargaining agreement with your teachers' union or contract with your school administrators."
Five years ago, the Illinois Association of School Boards sent a letter to school districts across the state warning them of Public Act 94-0004.
The letter stated, "The new law contains provisions regarding contractual salary increases and sick leave allowance that could result in school boards owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Teachers' Retirement System." It went on to say, "As a local school board member, you need to become familiar with this law before entering into your next collective bargaining agreement with your teachers' union or contract with your school administrators."
Not one, not two, not three, but 10 people should have been paying attention when hiring someone so close to retirement and then renewing her contract again without looking into the penalties that could be assessed in the TRS's Early Retirement Option.
How could principal Meg Pokorny, superintendent Mark Fredisdorf, business manager Catherine Chang and seven board members (including Lisa Houk, Rick Rigley and Beth Tegtmeier who up for re-election) let this kind of costly mistake happen? Who is paying attention over there? Apparently no one!
Talk about a WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS!
Who should be accountable for this extremely costly error? Is it fair that the taxpayers are footing this bill?
It will be interesting to hear the board and administration's spin on it as they try to talk their way out of this oversight mess!
One thing is for sure...you won't read about this in the Friday packet!
22 comments:
After reading this, I say can you blame the Wisconsin governor?
Wow, that is pretty serious. Can you imagine what that $132,000 would have paid for the district?
This makes me sick! Once again it appears that the current administration (Mark, Meg & Cahterine) have no consideration for the tax payers in the District! I'm sure in their eyes it's not a big deal... as they don't live in the District and it's not their hard earned tax money being wasted.
Bob, please don't be so quick to judge... remember the $68 discount on our homeowners taxes due to the recent abatement. What a joke!
Get out vote!! Make changes to get this board out... How can a group of people support 132,000.00 mistake. How can a board of people let 3 children get tossed out on his facts and NOT the actually facts. What is going on here.
$132,000 = 4+ teacher salaries; OR laptops for every 5th, 6th, and 7th grader; OR 1,760 new textbooks; OR 5,000 books for the library; OR 64% of a d107 superintendent's salary
Well said, Bob!
The frustrating thing is that Mark is out there campaigning for his board members because he knows they won't do anything to him. Stop in at an after school sporting event if you want to see him in action. He will will do whatever it takes to keep his team on the board.
Just watch and see what happens when Mark's, Meg's and Catherine's annual review comes up. They will continue to get their salary increases and this fine will be forgotten.
Parents need to go to the next Board Meeting and bring this up. Make these people accountable! If you have seniors voting in the next election I would strongly encourage them attending as well. They don't think too highly of this kind of stuff.
While your initial headline can certainly cause a frenzy, the fact is - nothing can be done to prevent individuals from taking an early retirement and leaving the school systems with unexpected financial burden(s). If you truly wish to stop this from happening, your local school board(s) are powerless to prevent it - You need to contact your state representatives.
You might say that they could have offered a bonus to an individual to stay on - with the amount of money you are claiming within, I could only assume that the bonus money would have been substantial and equally imperative in nature in that it could possibly set a precedent for future retirees.
Dear Anonymous:
You are correct in the fact that you cannot prevent an individual from retiring early. However; there are options available for contracted employees (Kim Fries was contracted) that would deter them from doing so! A bonus system is one option (but not recommended). The IASB recommends that when hiring contracted employees - the contract clearly state that the employee is responsible for any additional fees/penalties imposed by TRS for early retirement. This should be negotiated at the time of hire or contract renewal. This information was sent to all Illinois School boards when the rules were changed.
"Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them." --Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833
Blah, blah, blah. She should have not been allowed to retire early. We as taxpayers should not have to pick up the burden. It is not her fault it is ultimately the Superintendent's and Board. So what you are saying is we can have 10 teachers want to retire early next year and we as taxpayers will have to foot the bill? Sorry, but your words upon words will not get you out of this one Anonymous at 2:11 p.m. You obviously are not a paying taxpayer of this community.
I don't buy the assertion that this is the legislators faults. You can "spin" this however you want. The Board and administration should not have allowed this to happen or at least come up with a far cheaper alternative.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker salary = $137.092
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn salary = $150,691
Pleasantdale District 107 Superintendent Mark Fredisdorf Salary = $204,746
We agree:
Ms. Frieslinger was a fantastic administrator at d107.
Ms. Frieslinger deserves every cent of her pension.
In the world of d107 $132,00 is not a big deal.
d107 is a great school in a community to raise kids.
Questionable:
Decision making process
Communication of district initiatives
How will new curriculum stand up to test scores?
Teacher morale
Matt Vandercar: leadership or Walmart greeter
Questionable:
D107 is a great school if you have above level kids. If you have average or below average kids; it's a whole different story.
I don't know what world you live in; but $132,000 is a lot of money in the world I live in.
I agree John Smith. That is a lot of money to this family as well. This is not a Fortune 500 Company we are talking about. This is a SCHOOL DISTRICT. I am sorry but $132,000 is a huge amount of money to pay out. Good school or not.
Is there any positive news on this blog?
What are the views on the District Consolidation bills pending in Springfield? Or is it just more fun to b$&@& about the current administration? Surely, if D107 is such a cesspool, it will benefit from being consolidated with another district, say Highlands? Wouldn't that save money? You could knock out a bunch of administrators...
Dear 3/28 Anonymous,
So do you think it is acceptable to be fined $132,000? It seems to me you are trying to change the subject rather than commenting on the issue.
Rather than slamming this blog, tell us what you think of this fine.
There is plenty of positive blogs/comments on here, feel free to browse.
I love the anonymous comment about consolidating. What the heck? If you can't justify, than defer and redirect? This has got to be one of the guilty parties... Do your job and do it responsibly or move aside and let someone else...no doubt!
The irony in all of this is that the School Board has still not changed our teachers' standard contracts after being notified formally AND being burned. Who wouldn't retire early if they could - with a district paying for it. What if 3 more teachers/administrators do it this year? Who can blame them, it's not their fault, but the board - who has still not changed the contract. If I were them, I'd be sitting with an attorney now to make sure we are covered. This should not happen again!
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