DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Educators in DeKalb County are employed, but getting paid is another story.
Paychecks didn’t show up when they were supposed to last week, and teachers had to wait in line for hours to get them.
Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was in DeKalb County, where one teacher said that delayed check made a difficult time even harder.
The teachers were eventually paid. But one teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, held back tears as she described the stress of virtual learning and dealing with her delayed check.
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“I have to say, with virtual learning, we are working harder than we’ve ever worked before,” she said. “And I’ve been a teacher for a while, and I miss my kids. I miss being able to be in the classroom.”
She said teachers in DeKalb County were supposed to get a paycheck on the 15th. But instead, days went by and she, along with at least 200 other teachers, had to stand in line at district headquarters on Friday and wait.
“There was nowhere to socially distance. People were wearing masks but not correctly,” she said. “And they were in small quarters, and they were making people come into small rooms for people to get their paychecks.”
Washington reached out to the school district to find out what caused the delays. According to officials, postal service issues slowed down the process, and in other cases, some teachers had incorrect addresses on file.
The teacher Washington spoke to disputes those claims.
“When I got a hold of someone in payroll, he said my address was incorrect,” she said. “And when they informed me of what address it was, it was an old address of when I applied to the district in 2018, which is not the address I used to sign up with.”
The teacher said she had to put a stop payment on some bills and call the district every day for answers.
“They kept blaming the employees for it,” she said. “We’re afraid that it’s going to happen again.”
In a statement, DeKalb County Schools said:
“DeKalb County School District remains committed to its teachers and employees. Initially, it was estimated that 40 employees had not received paychecks. The number increased to approximately 200 employees and resulted in longer wait times for paper check pick-up. All checks have been picked up by employees. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
The teacher said that with COVID-19 and virtual learning, the paycheck issue only added more stress to an already stressful situation.
“I’m getting up at 5:30 in the morning to prepare for my kids, and I am not stopping until I go to bed,” Washington said. “It is exhausting to do what we’re doing right now.”
The teacher Washington talked to said that ultimately, she thinks this was all a human resources mix-up. DeKalb County officials said they don’t expect this to happen again anytime soon.
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