GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Gaston County Schools continues to have issues with a new payroll system the district adopted in January, and now WCNC Charlotte has learned Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is next in line to use the program.
The payroll system, operated by CherryRoad Technologies and Oracle, is causing many Gaston County educators to be paid incorrectly or miss paychecks all together.
Gaston County adopted the system as a pilot program under a state law enacted a few years ago that requires all school districts to modernize their operations by bringing them online.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which is overseeing the implementation, told WCNC Charlotte it’s aware of Gaston County’s pay issues and is working to solve them before more districts switch over.
"If my figures are correct, which I believe they are, they owe me $3,956.71,” Adrienne Scearce said about Gaston County Schools.
Scearce was a teacher’s assistant and tutor for the district but said she left in May, partly due to the payment issues.
“Here we are six, seven months later, [and I] still haven't received anything,” she added with a sigh.
Scearce told WCNC Charlotte she’s missing pay for 150 hours of work, and her colleagues are missing money too. The issues began in January, when the district switched to the new system operated by CherryRoad and Oracle. She explained that she and her colleagues were told they’d be paid back, but the checks never came.
An NCDPI spokesperson wrote to WCNC Charlotte in a statement:
“Implementing a new payroll system is a significant challenge for any large organization. The issues are different and most are specific to an individual employee or a small group of employees.”
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to WCNC Charlotte by emailing money@wcnc.com.
However, several educators have reached out to WCNC Charlotte for help, saying the problems are affecting multiple people.
“They keep sending those emails saying you know, ‘You're gonna get your money, we're doing the retro-pay, the system is going back to fix the error,’ and It’s not true," Scearce asserted. "It hasn't happened for me and there are other people that I know personally."
The district sent out an email to employees stating it has issued retroactive pay to many affected people. NCDPI said the district has hired personnel dedicated to fixing the system.
However, pay day problems are still happening in the new school year. The district told WCNC Charlotte it will continue to work through them.
Meanwhile, Scearce said she won't stop contacting the district until she and her previous colleagues receive payment for the hours they worked.
“I'm going to be the thorn in their side until they fix this," Scearce said.
The NCDPI spokesperson said CMS will be the second district to switch over to Oracle's payroll system, starting in 2023. Then several other large districts will also adopt the system, with the goal of every district using some type of internet-based model by 2030.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.