GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Employees with the Gaston County Schools district said it’s difficult to be committed to work when they must worry about payroll issues.
School administrators said they are working to eliminate the issues, but they haven’t given a timeline on when the problems will be resolved.
That doesn’t sit well with many employees.
An event held on Monday was an effort to put pressure on the school board to get firm answers to questions staff and teachers said they shouldn’t have to ask.
They asked why there are still paydays when teachers and employees discover pay hasn’t been deposited into their accounts.
There are also issues about too few or too many deductions showing up in their pay records.
There are questions about what’s happened to their retirement investment, which started when the county moved to a new payroll system in January 2022.
County officials said there are considerably fewer issues now compared to the first payday with the new system.
Teachers and staff went on social media with their concerns, and they said at any point there is a chance, they could be the person with no money on payday.
“(We) need guarantees that our payroll system is going to be fixed so that we are not constantly worried about this,” said Pam Miller, with the Gaston County North Carolina Association of Educators. “Our focus should really be on teaching our students.”
The group wants incentives to keep good staff, which is an issue the board will consider.
VIDEO: Gaston County teachers gather outside of South Point High School to protest against payroll issues
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