During the meeting, HR officials said the problem came from a software issue and a problem with employees not fully understanding their benefits.
For example, someone who is only employed in the district as a coach but has a teacher certification would still be contributing to the State Teachers’ Retirement System, but they might not know that, said Kelli Webb, the chief of payroll for DPS.
HR officials said they are already working to fix the problem with the software. Last week, the Dayton school board unanimously voted to cover any back payments that employees might owe for health care in January.
But another part of the problem is the Dayton Public Schools Human Resources staff is very new, and executive director of HR, Marvin Jones, was promoted in September from Thurgood Marshall principal to his new position.
“I do feel like this is my problem, I own it,” Jones said. “And if it came down to it, if I had to step down, I would but I do believe that we can fix this.”
But board member Chrisondra Goodwine said the problem wasn’t Jones and the district needs to fix these institutional problems.
This is not the first time this school year that DPS has had problems paying employees on time. In November, members of the bus drivers’ union, the paraprofessionals’ union and the teachers’ union all said they’d been having ongoing problems with people not being paid or paperwork not being properly submitted.
A lot of the discussion at Monday’s meeting centered around coaches, but Dayton Education Association President Neil Mahoney pointed out that coaches and supplemental positions are most often teachers. Those jobs are a way that teachers can supplement their pay.
Mahoney said part of the problem has been that there are 27 different campuses with 27 different ways to fill out a form. HR then has to piece together those forms, and there’s been a lot of turnover in HR. If HR doesn’t correctly fill out an invoice, the treasurer’s office can’t pay it or they’ll be flagged under a state audit.
He said the treasurer, Hiwot Abraha, had been helpful during the process, and said that Jones is a decent person, but he is new to his job.
“I am hopeful it will be better now,” Mahoney said.
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