Teachers and staff from the Rochester City School District continue to experience payroll issues due to technical difficulties while transitioning to a new financial software.
The district transitioned July 2 from PeopleSoft to Oracle, a modern platform that supports the district’s financial, human capital and technology operations.
Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association, said they have been meeting with Superintendent Dr. Eric Jay Rosser over the summer on a number of occasions working collaboratively to resolve these issues.
“Dr. Rosser is doing all he can to minimize the damage and we appreciate that,” Urbanski said. “He also asked us to negotiate with him to rectify the damages that were done to teachers, to all staff members who suffered either penalities or increase in interest rates or damages as a result of not getting paid at all during the summer or getting paid late or getting payed incorrectly.”
Urbanski said the superintendent expressed to RTA bargaining unit members they would receive their regular pay as scheduled on Sept. 5 and how any issues with extra pay and retro pay should be resolved by the Sept. 19 payroll.
In order to ease tensions among teachers and staff, Urbanski mentioned how the superintendent arraigned it where staff members could take a sneak peek at what they were supposed to get paid on Sept. 5.
“We appreciate that because it has calmed down the anxiety that a lot of staff had about whether or not they would get paid at all,” Urbanski said. “But we’re taking a cautious attitude because of the track record of the district and of Oracle to promise one thing but then not have that exactly work out in the end.“
If the issue is not resolved Urbanski said he will involve the New York State comptroller and the governor’s office if necessary.
“We have already communicated to the comptroller that there may be a very serious problem here and I know that he will be contacting the Rochester City School District and informing them that their office is keeping a close watch on how this plays out tomorrow,” Urbanski said.
The Democrat and Chronicle reached out to the Rochester City School District but has not received a response.
— Kerria Weaver works as the Government and You reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, with a focus on how government actions affect communities and neighborhoods in Rochester and in Monroe County.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: RCSD employees still experiencing pay problems after system overhaul