State wants to renege on Dr. Fitz's pension

CORNWALL — In her six years as principal of Cornwall Consolidated School, Kathleen Fitzgibbons — or Dr. Fitz, as she was known — touched the hearts of people in the school and community.

Now they are rallying to her aid, circulating a petition for state Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30) to take to the state Legislature Feb. 3.

When Fitzgibbons retired last year, it was a carefully thought-out decision. Prior to coming to Cornwall, she had earned a degree in theology. Her plan was to look for a church congregation to lead in order to pursue her second chosen path in life.

The decision hinged on her getting the pension she had earned during her teaching and administrative career. Working with Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick, Fitzgibbons calculated her eligibility and “buy-back years� from school jobs she held in other states.

She sent $31,752 to the Connecticut teacher’s retirement account, for 5.4 years of out-of-state service. For each year that was credited, she had to work two years in Connecticut.

In November 2008, she received from the Teachers Retirement Board an estimate of benefits of 42 percent of her final average pay ($97,718).

She confirmed by e-mail that all her paperwork had been properly completed and the estimate was, indeed, correct. That would give her an annual pension of more than $41,000. Deciding she could live on that, she gave her notice.

On July 29, 2009, a month after her retirement began, Fitzgibbons was contacted by phone with the news from the Retirement Board that it had miscalculated her benefits.

Two people had actually reviewed and signed off on the paperwork. It was apparently those buy-back years that caused the error, personnel at the state office said.

Her benefits were cut to about $30,370 (about $23,000 after taxes), an amount Fitzgibbons said in a letter of explanation, she cannot live on.

“I tried to explain that I would never have retired if I had known this,� she wrote. “I had a year left on my contract at $106,000; the children, teachers and Board of Education and community did not want me to leave. Based on the confirmation the Retirement Board had sent me, I made a careful, well-planned decision to retire.�

She was told there was no way to rectify it, short of going to the governor.

So that’s what she did.

Senator Roraback has written proposed legislation that would address only this particular case, and would give Fitzgibbons the pension she was originally quoted.

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