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Teachers received incorrect pay or weren't paid at all when Gaston County Schools switched to the new system, and cafeteria workers allegedly weren't paid enough.

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. - Gaston County teachers held a rally outside of Monday's board of education meeting over a payroll system that they say still hasn't fixed issues from January.

Numerous teachers and other school staff members received incorrect pay or weren't paid at all due to a new state-mandated payroll system. Gaston County is one of the pilot districts for the new system, which is a step to modernize the outdated system used in schools across North Carolina.

In addition to payroll issues, the group claims cafeteria workers weren't paid the $20 an hour they were promised for summer school services. Pam Miller, the president of the Gaston chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said they had people signed up to speak during public comments at Monday's board meeting.

Superintendent Jeffrey Booker apologized to employees whose pay was incorrect, telling them in September the district was continuing work on "outstanding issues." That answer didn't satisfy educators at the town hall, who pointed out flaws with the payroll system that started in the second half of the 2021-22 school year.

Emails obtained by WCNC Charlotte showed that Gaston County Schools administrators were advised not to transition to the system. Eric Moore, the fiscal analyst for the General Assembly, said Gaston County Schools chose to implement the new system against recommendations from state leaders.
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Gaston County teachers rally over payroll system issues

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Teachers received incorrect pay or weren't paid at all when Gaston County Schools switched to the new system, and cafeteria workers allegedly weren't paid enough. GASTON COUNTY, N.C. - Gaston County teachers held a rally outside of Monday's board of education meeting over a payroll system that they say still hasn't fixed issues from January.

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GASTON COUNTY, N.C. - Due to an ongoing payroll issue, hundreds of Gaston County teachers had problems receiving their paycheck last week.

The North Carolina Association of Educators says up to 500 Gaston County educators either didn't get direct deposit last week, were grossly underpaid or overcharged in deductions.

"All these bills that are set up to automatically draft started hitting the bank and the money wasn't there," said one Gaston County teacher.

That was just part of the problem as there were overdraft fees and fees for late payment.

One educator was charged well over $300 and that's not all.

"I haven't even begun to add up the charges from the individual companies," the educator told Channel 9.

Gaston County Schools chief communications officer Todd Hagans said they sent 180 printed checks to cover missing direct deposits and they are trying to determine why some employees had double deductions on their deposits.
>>In the video at the top of this webpage, Channel 9′s Gaston County reporter Ken Lemon speaks with the (WATCH BELOW: Gaston County police identify 1979 murder victim using DNA profile) president of the county chapter of t he N.C. Association of Educat ors about this situation and goes over the response from the district.

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Payroll error means hundreds of Gaston County teachers not paid, underpaid

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GASTON COUNTY, N.C. - Due to an ongoing payroll issue, hundreds of Gaston County teachers had problems receiving their paycheck last week. The North Carolina Association of Educators says up to 500 Gaston County educators either didn't get direct deposit last week, were grossly underpaid or overcharged in deductions.

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Gaston County Schools acknowledges problems with payroll

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Gaston County Schools acknowledges problems with payroll

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Switched to a new system so teachers weren’t getting paid and cafeteria workers weren’t getting paid enough

One of the pilot districts for the new pay-roll system

Started during the second half of the 2021-2022 school year

State leaders advised not to transition to the new system

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Up to 500 teachers didn’t get paid

Overdraft fees for late payment

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Over a month before someone got paid and when he did it was short $1600

“It's put a lot of strain on us as teachers when we're trying to focus on educating our students, but in the back of our minds, we're worried about whether we're going to be able to pay our bills, get groceries, that kind of thing."

Rowan County Schools has had trouble with tax withholdings, and some employees ended up owing thousands of dollars in taxes because the money was not withheld from their paychecks, Jeffers said.