Oakland: Ex-Employees Still Getting Paid By Mistake

Ex-Employees Still Getting Paid By Mistake
KGO By Lyanne Melendez

Nov. 28 - KGO - You apparently don't need to be one of the 7,000 employees of the Oakland Unified School District to get one of its paychecks. Ex-employees have been getting paid by mistake. Officials are fixing the problem, but it means legitimate employees face an extra hassle.

Carol Lee, art teacher: "I think it's manipulative, ridiculous, I think it should have been a sick out today."

Carol Lee is an Oakland teacher. Like everyone who works for the district she stood in line waiting for a paycheck. Direct deposits were suspended for this pay period. It's the school district's way of finding out who really works for them.

Javetta Robinson, Oakland Unified School Dist. CFO: "We've had a couple of checks we know for sure that were paid to terminated employees so this is an effort to make sure there aren't anymore."

Javetta Robinson has been the financial fix-it person for four troubled school districts. Last January, she was hired by State Administrator Dr. Randolph Ward to audit the Oakland School District.

The district has a database with the names and information of each employee, but that hasn't been 100 percent accurate. A year-and-a-half ago, a similar audit was done at each school site.

Ben Visnick, Oakland Education Association: "It does appear they are mistrusting the people at the sites because they want to control this from a central office."

Today, employees had to come to the district, show their identification and sign their names in order to get paid.

Javetta Robinson: "We will research and investigate every check left in the box and if someone has been getting a check that shouldn't have, we will send that information to a collection agency to make sure we get the money back."

The teacher's union says this is a huge inconvenience for employees.

Teresa Hunt, special education teacher: "I have USAA, which is a military account and I have to mail in my deposit for Texas and hope that it clears before rent is due on Thursday. Usually I have direct deposit for that."

This is part of the district's attempt to become financially solvent again.

Brigitte Marshall, head of adult education: "It's a minor inconvenience, but I don't consider it a big deal. I think it is necessary. It will benefit the children and adults in the district, so it's a small price to pay."

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