$16 million calculation error impacts proposed WS/FC Schools pay raises

A multi-million dollar calculation mistake is causing quite a stir in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools community.

The error means that many teachers and staff won't get as much of a pay bump as originally planned.

In December, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education approved a new supplement model for teachers and some support staff, including counselors and social workers. In certain cases, this extra compensation would have been $8,000 more per year.

But a major calculation error occurred and now that amount will likely be much smaller. That error is roughly $16 million.

In an email to staff, Superintendent Tricia McManus joined the district's Finance and Human Resources teams to apologize for the mistake and said they've taken steps to make sure something like this never happens again.

Several educators took to social media to share their frustrations and disappointment over the mishap.

Michele Jordan is a fifth-grade teacher at Brunson Elementary and says the pandemic has been challenging for many employees. She says she wants to see accountability for the error and a way to deliver on what was promised.

“Having us compensated at least a little bit in a more positive way was just a nice little like 'OK, they are trying to do something for us' and to have a mistake made, a $16 million mistake, a glaring mistake, this isn't something that's small, it's simple math that should have been caught,” says Jordan.

On Tuesday, district leaders will present an updated salary schedule to the Board of Education for consideration.

McManus says the proposal will include a minimum average annual supplement increase of $1,800.

“This of course will vary depending on where you fall on the supplemental schedule. The beginning teacher annual supplement would be a minimum of $6,400. Again, while not as high as what was previously approved, this supplement increase will be greater than in years past,” says McManus.

Follow WFDD'S Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news