TWO TEACHERS ORDERED TO RETURN MORE THAN $148,000 IN OVERPAYMENTS: L.A. Unified's action is part of increased efforts to retrieve millions of dollars paid out because of a payroll malfunction + smf 2¢:

 

By Howard Blume | LA Times | http://bit.ly/74Ek7L

December 28, 2009 -- Two former Los Angeles teachers face a court order to return salary overpayments of more than $148,000, part of an increasingly aggressive push by the Los Angeles Unified School District to retrieve $9.4 million from employees who were inadvertently caught up in its malfunctioning payroll system.

The judgments were approved this month in Los Angeles Superior Court against Adalberto Castro, who allegedly received an unanticipated windfall of $96,482, and Christina Garcia, who allegedly was overpaid $52,345.

The debacle began with the activation of Business Tools for Schools, a computerized payroll system, on Jan. 1, 2007. Over the next months, thousands of employees were overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all. Castro and Garcia, who were on unpaid status at the time, are accused of receiving some of the largest overpayments and returning nothing.

The school district, the nation's second-largest, is still determining the full number of employees affected and how much they were overpaid on that day.

The article continues:

• Most employees have returned all owed money, with the first $250 forgiven, or arranged installment payments. According to the district, about 2,400 former and current employees still have outstanding payments; the average amount is less than $5,000.
• In addition to creating overpayments, the defective system also shortchanged many employees, causing substantial financial hardship and catapulting thousands into lengthy dealings with the district's labyrinthine bureaucracy to set matters straight.
• The district hired specialized consultants and district staff worked long hours to help employees. Senior officials apologized repeatedly, but the fallout further scarred the district's reputation.

Entire article: http://bit.ly/74Ek7L

 

●●smf’s 2¢:  The smoking gun here is “The school district, the nation's second-largest, is still determining…”

BTS is NOT a ‘payroll malfunction’ …it IS ‘a debacle’.

The current tense, rather than the past, is apparently still appropriate. When will there be a full accounting … or does BTS,  like the Belmont Learning Center, just fester, unaccounted for?