On March 23, 2016, the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU), and the District of Columbia Retirement Board (DCRB or the Board) joined forces to hold a retirement workshop for members of the District of Columbia Teachers’ Retirement Plan (the Teachers’ Retirement Plan).

The program began with welcome statements from Nathan Saunders, the Active Teacher Trustee on the Board, and WTU President Elizabeth Davis, to a group of approximately 70 teachers in attendance.  In addition, a representative from the NY Life Insurance Company gave a presentation on the basics of 403(b) plans, and several of DCPS’ 403(b) plan sponsors were available to provide specific information on their programs.

Following those introductory remarks,  Jana Woods-Jefferson, DCPS’ Director of Benefits and Compensation, and Johnetta Bond, DCRB’s Chief Benefits Officer, provided information on the  provisions of the Teachers’ Retirement Plan. Topics discussed included cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), purchase of service,  and the calculation retirement credit for unused sick leave. Ms. Bond also led a session on the specifics of the retirement process. Many insightful questions were raised, and attendees were encouraged to contact the DCPS HR office  for help with preretirement counseling and to receive a benefit estimate.

Finally, a representative from the Social Security Administration’s Public Affairs Office  gave a presentation covering the basics of Social Security and Medicare.

Plan members who were not able to attend the workshop may access copies of the presentation materials by opening the PDFs attached below.