Comments on: Del Mar school district employees accept supplemental retirement plan

By: inside scoop

inside scoop — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:42:22 +0000

As a former DM Hills Employee. The negative comments about Susan NEEDS TO STOP. Parents from DM HILLS Need to fix there personal problems at home and within there marriage before trying to fix there community. FYI,

By: carli

carli — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:34:28 +0000

Yes, GRM, you're absolutely right – we should be careful not to derail the issue by discussing Ms. Fitzpatrick's weak performance and her very brief tenure as principal at DM Hills. However, I can tell you many parents feel burned when they hear about the retirement package that she thought was an offer too good to refuse (even though she had no intention of retiring for years) shortly followed by news of her job in another district. Ouch.

Still, I agree that the real tragedy is the waste of federal dollars and the weak financial skills of district management. Hope you spoke up at February's Board of Trustees meeting to express your valid concerns.

By: GRM

GRM — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:38:21 +0000

The point is not whether or not Ms. Fitzpatrick was a good principal. We should guard against that debate in this case. The fact is that the whole SERP program and companion "health care cost stipend" that was also recommended by the superintendent and approved by the board are an huge and shameful waste of $726,000 dollars from the federal government in the form of Education Jobs Funds. There were no substantive questions from any trustee at the Feb board meeting about the very weak financial analysis that was provided by the Dir of Finance, and the presentation by the Financial Services company was not transparent as to the true cost of the program. Shame on this board for being led by the nose, and, as much as Dr. Peabody has done to help the district get back to a stable management, clearly his strength is not in finance or budgeting. What a waste of 3/4 of a million dollars! That is about equal to what all the parents in the district have donated to the Foundation in an average year. Hopefully the district is not wasting those dollars too, but you've got to wonder….

By: Lynnea

Lynnea — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:45:56 +0000

Clearly this person doesn't know what they are talking about…just in the simple fact that Del Mar did not need to use a head hunter to get a new principal. Susan Fitzpatrick has done a fantastic job connecting with the community and serving the Hills staff, children and parents! She will be missed!

By: Carli

Carli — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:29:34 +0000

Thanks to Marsha Sutton, another important issue comes to light.

DMUSD needs to make better decisions than handing out severance packages (regardless of the funding source) to employees like Susan Fitzpatrick, who has only been with the district for two years, and was by most accounts (parents and teachers alike) someone who did not contribute much to Del Mar Hills. Replacing her position will surely cost the district money, especially if there's a headhunter used in the hiring process. It would make much more sense for the district to job-share this position with another principal, a move that would truly save money. We can't fault Susan for taking advantage of such a sweetheart deal, but for her to say that being principal at Del Mar Hills (for all of two years) was the "cherry on top" of her career is certainly disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst, especially since she was telling friends that she had another job very soon after deciding to retire.

Sigh. And the dysfunction at DMUSD continues, even after we thought there might be hope. DMUSD, please use our money more wisely in the future!!