{"id":479,"date":"2018-08-28T05:36:44","date_gmt":"2018-08-28T05:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/k12transparency.isolon.org\/?p=479"},"modified":"2018-12-28T06:05:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T06:05:02","slug":"private-3rd-set-of-public-information-act-correspondence-with-prince-georges-county-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/k12transparency.isolon.org\/?p=479","title":{"rendered":"3rd Set of Public Information Act Correspondence with Prince George\u2019s County Public Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note:<\/strong> No reply was provided to my follow-up queries in the October 5, 2018 email below.<\/p>\n

From:<\/strong>\u00a0‘J.H. Snider’
\nSent:<\/strong> Friday, October 5, 2018 4:54 PM
\nTo:<\/strong> ‘John White’ <john2.white@pgcps.org>
\nCc:<\/strong> ‘Demetria Tobias’ <demetria.tobias@pgcps.org>; ‘Shauna Battle’ <shauna.battle@pgcps.org>; ‘Erica Berry Wilson’ <erica.berry@pgcps.org>; ‘Monica Goldson CEO’ <ceo@pgcps.org>
\nSubject:<\/strong> RE: Public Information Act request<\/p>\n

Dear Mr. White:<\/p>\n

Thank you for your belated response to my August 23 and August 28 Public Information Act requests.\u00a0 You provided additional useful information.\u00a0 I have responded below to your responses (your responses are in italicized bold):<\/p>\n

For FY2018, both budgeted and actual compensation related data for Kevin Maxwell, including Salary in 2018, was $299,937. Salary paid, as of July 1, 2018, was $310,434.87 and included the salary to which he was entitled as of September 17, 2018.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If I understand you correctly, you are claiming that these were the salary bases used to calculate Kevin Maxwell\u2019s pension benefits. There are so many different definitions of salary used by Maryland public schools for different public relations purposes that it is important to be crystal clear on this definition.<\/p>\n

The salary reported to the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS) for Dr. Kevin Maxwell for FY2019 was $275,000; which is the IRC 401(a)(17) Annual Compensation Limit per MSRPS.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Does the $275,000 MSRPS limit include sick leave and other extraordinary payouts or are those outside the $275,000 limit? Did PGCPS query MSRPS about seeking an exemption to its various pension caps (it\u2019s my understanding that these exemptions, when granted, are usually granted in secret)? Thank you for clarifying, if only implicitly in response to my question, that PGCPS would have violated the law if it didn\u2019t match (using MSRPS\u2019s mandated formula) Maxwell\u2019s contribution to MSRPS.<\/p>\n

PGCPS contributes to the appropriate Maryland State Retirement & Pension System (MSRPS) based on the quarterly bill received from the MSRPS. The quarterly bill is an aggregate amount that covers all employees enrolled in the teacher\u2019s pension system.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure, but isn\u2019t your payment to MSRPS based on a fixed percentage of salary paid (up to some maximum, as noted above)? If you know the relevant base salary, then you know your contribution to MSRPS.\u00a0 At a minimum, you MUST know what this percentage is for your own budgeting purposes.\u00a0 I am aware of no professionally run organization that doesn\u2019t know the total compensation of one of its employees whether paid directly to the employee or indirectly to a government entity.<\/p>\n

The bill is a consolidated bill and no detailed information is provided by the State. You will need to contact the State to obtain detailed information on the amount and how it is calculated for an individual employee. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As one of your own attorneys pointed out to me, MSRPS doesn\u2019t provide pension related data at an individual level.\u00a0 Fortunately, you don\u2019t need to ask MSRPS for what you contributed to Dr. Maxwell\u2019s pension.\u00a0 As noted above, that has to be an essential part of your internal budgeting.<\/p>\n

Benefits Services has no correspondence between PGCPS and the MSRPS regarding deferred compensation for Maryland superintendents.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t ask if Benefits Services has this information.\u00a0 I asked if PGCPS has this information, and the answer is yes.\u00a0 The implication of your statement is that PGCPS received no copy of the relevant laws from MSRPS.<\/p>\n

The only correspondence concerning superintendent salary was between Board Counsel and Dr. Eubanks, which is attorney-client privileged and exempt from disclosure under General Provisions Article section 4-301. <\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not exempt if MSRPS passed onto Dr. Eubanks (or the Board of Education) any relevant laws, including statutes, regulations, meeting minutes, and other relevant information that is public under Maryland law. It\u2019s a basic principle of democracy that the law should be meaningfully public. With rare exception, the courts frown on secret law.\u00a0 The principle as applied to this case is that the people deserve to understand the laws that determine how much its public employees are paid. You can redact the exempt communications, but the relevant laws passed onto PGCPS are public information. I\u2019d like to call to your attention Monica Goldson\u2019s promise to the public: \u201cHopefully, what they will feel is a different level of accountability than they felt before and more honesty and transparency. Every day won\u2019t be perfect, but when it\u2019s not, we\u2019re going to own it, and we\u2019re going to talk about what we\u2019re going to do to improve and make it better.\u00a0 We\u2019re working extremely hard to change the narrative about Prince George\u2019s County.\u201d\u00a0 I hope CEO Monica Goldson will take constructive ownership of this issue consistent with both the avowed spirit of Maryland\u2019s Public Information Act and her public statement above claiming ownership of the transparency issue, including compensation transparency.\u00a0 I\u2019m confident that everyone on this email distribution list is aware of how various exemptions to Maryland\u2019s Public Information Act, including attorney-client privilege, have been abused and used inconsistent with the spirit of the Act. Let\u2019s now ensure they\u2019re not inconsistent with CEO Goldson\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

I recognize that the 30-day limits for your responding to both my August 23, 2018 and August 28, 2018 Public Information Act requests have expired.\u00a0 But I nevertheless hope that you will respond as soon as practicable to my queries above.<\/p>\n

The public information I have requested is of great interest to the public, so I hope you will respond accordingly.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

J.H. Snider<\/p>\n

From:<\/strong> John White <john2.white@pgcps.org>
\nSent:<\/strong> Friday, October 5, 2018 2:38 PM
\nTo:<\/strong> ‘J.H. Snider’
\nCc:<\/strong> Demetria Tobias <demetria.tobias@pgcps.org>; Shauna Battle <shauna.battle@pgcps.org>; Erica Berry Wilson <erica.berry@pgcps.org>
\nSubject:<\/strong> Re: Public Information Act request<\/p>\n

Hello Mr. Snider,<\/p>\n

I am emailing a response to your public information act request below [copied below].<\/p>\n

Best regards,<\/p>\n

John White
\nPublic Information Officer
\nPrince George’s County Public Schools
\nSasscer Administration Building
\n14201 School Lane
\nUpper Marlboro, MD 20772<\/p>\n

Office<\/strong>:\u00a0301-780-6814
\nMobile:\u00a0<\/strong>240-691-6744
\nEmail:\u00a0<\/strong>John2.White@pgcps.org<\/a>
\nwww.pgcps.org<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0www.facebook.com\/pgcps<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0www.twitter.com\/pgcps<\/a><\/p>\n

October 5, 2018
\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL, net@jhsnider.net
\nMr. J.H. Snider
\nRe: Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) Request regarding Dr. Maxwell\u2019s compensation.
\nOur File No.: 17-99-0034
\nDear Mr. Snider:<\/p>\n

This letter is written in response to your email correspondence dated September 26, 2018, requesting the following information under the Maryland Public Information Act. I have provided responses in bold text below:<\/p>\n

For the August 28, 2018 request: you did not provide Kevin Maxwell\u2019s actual salary through September 26, 2018, the date you responded to this Public Information Act request, which is the actual date I requested. The last date he was CEO of PGCPS, according to his amended employment contract, was September 17, 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n

For FY2018, both budgeted and actual compensation related data for Kevin Maxwell, including Salary in 2018, was $299,937. Salary paid, as of July 1, 2018, was $310,434.87 and included the salary to which he was entitled as of September 17, 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for providing his budgeted base salary through the end of FY2019. However, I am interested in his total budgeted salary for FY2019, including payments for his various types of leave and other types of pay that would be used by the Maryland State Retirement Agency to calculate his final salary. Like the Retirement Agency, when the public thinks of salary, they think of total cash compensation, not a subset of it. Even if you cannot provide all the components of such a salary, you should be able to provide the aggregate amount, which is in your payroll database.<\/em><\/p>\n

The salary reported to the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS) for Dr. Kevin Maxwell for FY2019 was $275,000; which is the IRC 401(a)(17) Annual Compensation Limit per MSRPS.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please confirm your assertion that PGCPS did not contribute to Kevin Maxwell\u2019s pension while he was CEO through September 17, 2018. Wouldn\u2019t that violate the law? But perhaps I am missing something.<\/em><\/p>\n

PGCPS contributes to the appropriate Maryland State Retirement & Pension System (MSRPS) based on the quarterly bill received from the MSRPS. The quarterly bill is an aggregate amount that covers all employees enrolled in the teacher\u2019s pension system.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The bill is a consolidated bill and no detailed information is provided by the State. You will need to contact the State to obtain detailed information on the amount and how it is calculated for an individual employee.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the August 23, 2018 request: you did not provide a response to the requests for the following two sets of documents:<\/em><\/p>\n

1. All correspondence between PGCPS and the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System during 2018 concerning deferred compensation for Maryland superintendents.<\/em><\/p>\n

Benefits Services has no correspondence between PGCPS and the MSRPS regarding deferred compensation for Maryland superintendents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. All correspondence between PGCPS staff and PGCPS Board of Education Chair Segun Eubanks during 2018 concerning compensation for Maryland superintendents under Maryland State law.<\/em><\/p>\n

The only correspondence concerning superintendent salary was between Board Counsel and Dr. Eubanks, which is attorney-client privileged and exempt from disclosure under General Provisions Article section 4-301.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have further questions regarding this response, please contact this office. You are entitled to judicial review of information denied pursuant to General Provisions Article section 4-362 and administrative review pursuant to General Provisions Article section 4-1B-01 et seq.<\/p>\n

Best regards,<\/p>\n

John White
\nPublic Information Officer
\nJLW\/khr<\/p>\n

cc:\u00a0 Monica Goldson, Ed.D.
\nRaven Hill
\nDemetria T. Tobias, Esquire
\nShauna Garlington Battle, Esquire<\/p>\n

From: ‘J.H. Snider’
\nDate: Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 11:09 PM
\nSubject: RE: Public Information Act request
\nTo: John White <john2.white@pgcps.org<\/a>>
\nCc: Demetria Tobias <demetria.tobias@pgcps.org<\/a>>, Shauna Battle <shauna.battle@pgcps.org<\/a>>, Raven Hill <raven.hill@pgcps.org<\/a>>, Monica Goldson CEO <ceo@pgcps.org<\/a>>, Karen Remington <karen.remington@pgcps.org<\/a>><\/p>\n

Dear Mr. White:<\/p>\n

Thank you for partially fulfilling my August 23, 2018 and August 28, 2018 Public Information Act requests to your office.<\/p>\n

For the August 28, 2018 request: you did not provide Kevin Maxwell\u2019s actual salary through September 26, 2018, the date you responded to this Public Information Act request, which is the actual date I requested.\u00a0 The last date he was CEO of PGCPS, according to his amended employment contract, was September 17, 2018.<\/p>\n

Thank you for providing his budgeted base salary through the end of FY2019. However, I am interested in his total budgeted salary for FY2019, including payments for his various types of leave and other types of pay that would be used by the Maryland State Retirement Agency to calculate his final salary.\u00a0 Like the Retirement Agency, when the public thinks of salary, they think of total cash compensation, not a subset of it. Even if you cannot provide all the components of such a salary, you should be able to provide the aggregate amount, which is in your payroll database.<\/p>\n

Please confirm your assertion that PGCPS did not contribute to Kevin Maxwell\u2019s pension while he was CEO through September 17, 2018.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t that violate the law?\u00a0 But perhaps I am missing something.<\/p>\n

For the August 23, 2018 request: you did not provide a response to the requests for the following two sets of documents:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. All correspondence between PGCPS and the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System during 2018 concerning deferred compensation for Maryland superintendents.<\/li>\n
  2. All correspondence between PGCPS staff and PGCPS Board of Education Chair Segun Eubanks during 2018 concerning compensation for Maryland superintendents under Maryland State law.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you choose to reject part of a Public Information Act request, I believe the appropriate norm is to do so explicitly. Accordingly, thank you for explicitly rejecting my request for most of the components of Kevin Maxwell\u2019s compensation package, including his severance pay.\u00a0 I ask that you now explicitly reject the other parts of my two Public Information Act requests that you did not fulfill.<\/p>\n

    I believe that tomorrow, September 27, 2018, marks the 30th<\/sup> day since my Public Information Act request.<\/p>\n

    Sincerely,<\/p>\n

    J.H. Snider<\/p>\n

    From:<\/strong> John White <john2.white@pgcps.org>
    \nSent:<\/strong> Wednesday, September 26, 2018 5:46 PM
    \nTo:<\/strong> ‘J.H. Snider’
    \nCc:<\/strong> Demetria Tobias <demetria.tobias@pgcps.org>; Shauna Battle <shauna.battle@pgcps.org>; Raven Hill <raven.hill@pgcps.org>; Monica Goldson CEO <ceo@pgcps.org>; Karen Remington <karen.remington@pgcps.org>
    \nSubject:<\/strong> Re: Public Information Act request<\/p>\n

    Hello Mr. Snider,<\/p>\n

    I am emailing the attached letter [copied below] and expense reimbursement data [copied below] in response to your request for public records made on August 28, 2018, under the Maryland Public Information Act.<\/p>\n

    Best regards,<\/p>\n

    John White
    \nPublic Information Officer
    \nPrince George’s County Public Schools
    \nSasscer Administration Building
    \n14201 School Lane
    \nUpper Marlboro, MD 20772<\/p>\n

    Office<\/strong>:\u00a0301-780-6814
    \nMobile:\u00a0<\/strong>240-691-6744
    \nEmail:\u00a0<\/strong>    John2.White@pgcps.org<\/a>
    \n    www.pgcps.org<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0www.facebook.com\/pgcps<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0www.twitter.com\/pgcps<\/a><\/p>\n

    Attached Letter<\/h4>\n

    September 26, 2018<\/p>\n

    Re: Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) Request regarding Dr. Maxwell\u2019s compensation.\u00a0 Our File No.: 17-99-0034<\/p>\n

    Dear Mr. Snider:<\/p>\n

    This letter is written in response to your email correspondence dated August 28, 2018, requesting the following information under the Maryland Public Information Act:<\/p>\n

    For FY2018, both budgeted and actual compensation related data for Kevin Maxwell.<\/em><\/p>\n

    For FY2019, the same data as specified in 1) above for FY2018, but with the actual compensation related data not including the entire fiscal year (as obviously, FY2019 is not yet over); that is, the actual compensation related<\/em>
    \ndata limited to the period up until this Public Information Act request is fulfilled by your office.<\/em><\/p>\n