Posted on February 18, 2009

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FCPS to Honor Retirees on April 22, RSVP Deadline Is April 3

We Honor YouIf you plan to retire this year and want to participate in the spring 2009 retirement ceremony—We Honor You-Celebrating Your Service to FCPS—you should submit your Notification of Resignation/Retirement form (HR-2) as soon as possible.

Invitations are being mailed. The retirement ceremony will be held on Wednesday, April 22, at Robinson Secondary School at 7 p.m. The ceremony will be shown live on Channel 21 and will be rebroadcast on Monday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. Invitees are asked to respond to the invitation by Friday, April 3.

More information about the retirement ceremony, including retiree testimonials and photos from previous ceremonies, is available at www.fcps.edu/DHR/wehonoryou.

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Nomination Deadline Is February 27 for Support Employee of the Year Award

Nominations are now open for the 2009 FCPS Support Employee of the Year Award. This award recognizes one school-based support employee and one nonschool-based support employee.

A nominee must be a contracted support employee and provide a unique and exceptional contribution to FCPS through his or her work, demonstrate commitment and leadership in his or her field, and foster cooperative relationships with colleagues and/or the community. Winners, finalists, and nominees for this award will be honored at a Support Employee of the Year reception and School Board ceremony to be held in April 2009 during Support Employee Week.

The deadline for Support Employee of the Year Award nominations is Friday, February 27. The nomination form and instructions are available online at http://www.fcps.edu/DHR/employees/awards/seoy.htm.  

For more information, contact Shannon Watson at 571-423-3278.

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Free Financial Education Workshop Set for March 10, 12 at Gatehouse

Financial success is not always dependent on income; in fact, many people earning an impressive salary struggle to make ends meet. To help, a free financial education workshop for FCPS employees—Ten Steps to Financial Success—will be held at Gatehouse Administration Center I on:

  • Tuesday, March 10, noon to 1 p.m., room 2050-51.
  • Thursday, March 12, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., room 1600.

From developing a spending plan that works, to setting goals, to weighing insurance needs, this presentation covers the core concepts necessary to develop and maintain personal financial control.

To register, go to https://www.applefcu.org/seminarsFCPS.asp. The deadline to register is 4:30 p.m. on March 2. Refreshments will be served to those who attend.

For more information, contact Alice O'Neill at alice.oneill@fcps.edu or 571-423-3050.

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Support Services Employees’ Advisory Council Representatives Needed, Nominations Due March 6

The next Support Services Employees’ Advisory Council (SSEAC) election will be held March 30 through April 1 to fill the following two-year term representative vacancies: 

  • group 1–bus drivers and attendants
  • group 3–food and nutrition services
  • group 4–custodial and plant operations
  • group 7–management and administrative
  • group 8–educational support

An HR News petition, issue no. 94, to nominate a candidate is available on the SSEAC’s advisory council web site http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/supt/sseac/index.htm. Any interested candidate must submit a petition signed by 20 employees who work in their specific community-of-interest group (i.e., food and nutrition employees should sign for group 3 candidates.) and must also submit a statement of no more than 50 words as to why he or she would best serve in the position.

Petitions and statements must be returned to Gatehouse Administration Center I, Office of Employee Performance and Development (OEPD), suite 2512, by 4:30 p.m. on March 6.

If you have questions, contact the OEPD office at 571-423-3252.

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Understanding Your 2008 W-2 Form

2008 W-2 forms were mailed to each employee’s home address on January 21. A self-sealing mailer was used for the 2008 W-2 forms, a change from previous years when the forms have been inserted into envelopes. Be sure to follow the opening instructions on the back of the form.

The following information will help employees interpret the W-2 when it arrives. 

The yearly gross earnings figure reported in each employee’s last 2008 paycheck does not appear on the W-2.
W-2s report taxable wages, not gross earnings. Federal taxable wages in box 1 on the W-2 represent annual gross earnings from your December 2008 pay stub or pay advice (pay period 13 for biweekly employees) minus and plus the following:

Minus:

  • Retirement Fund Contributions.
  • Tax-Deferred Account/403(b) Contributions (TDA contributions are also indicated in box 12, letter E).
  • Section 457 Plan Contributions (Section 457 plan contributions are also indicated in box 12, letter G).
  • Flex Fund Contributions (dependent and health care)* (Dependent care contributions are also indicated in box 10).
  • Health Insurance Premiums.*
  • Dental Insurance Premiums.*

Plus:

  • The taxable portion of employee-paid life insurance coverage in excess of $50,000. (This amount, if any, is included in taxable wages in boxes 1, 3, 5, and 16 and appears as letter C in box 12.)

* These items are also excluded from the Social Security and Medicare wages reported in boxes 3 and 5.

Employees who have had taxes withheld for more than one jurisdiction (e.g., Virginia and Maryland) will receive multiple W-2s (one for each jurisdiction).

Reissues

If you have not received your 2008, you may obtain a W-2 Reissue Request form (FS73-66) from your work location or on the web at http://www.fcps.edu/DIT/kam/docmgmt/forms/fs7366.pdf. A reissue will be mailed or available for pickup approximately five working days after the request is received by the Office of Payroll Management (OPM). Requests may be faxed to OPM at 571-423-3507 or sent through the pony to Payroll Management, Gatehouse Administration Center I, suite 2200. Reissues will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Winter WebStar Winners Announced

WebStar AwardThe new FCPS WebStar Awards (previously known as the Best Practices Awards) will be awarded three times each year by the Department of Communications and Community Outreach to the web curators of three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school for school web sites that best demonstrate the following criteria:

  • Usefulness of content.
  • Clarity of design.
  • Ease of navigation.
  • Adherence to FCPS web policies.

The winter WebStar winners are:

Nominations will be gathered during the months of September, December, and March, and all FCPS school and department web curators will vote on the entire list of nominees. All WebStar winners will automatically be eligible for the Best of the Web awards, to be given in May.

For more information, contact Nancy Moy at nancy.moy@fcps.edu or 571-423-1221.

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