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Teachers steam over $56,000 pay goof
By MELANIE AVE, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- Overpaid teachers? Those two words don't often occur in the same sentence. But Hillsborough school administrators say they goofed and overpaid 46 teachers between August and October. And now they're asking the teachers to pay back $56,000 in wages, an average of $1,221 each. "The bottom line is, it's just wrong," said Chiaramonte Elementary teacher Emily Young, who estimates she'll have to pay back thousands of dollars. She filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the district Friday. Richard Martinez, Hillsborough's director of employee relations, estimated the overpayments, which he called "unfortunate," to range between $200 and $4,000 a teacher. He attributed the problem to a change in the way the district pays teachers who leave Hillsborough and return. Until this year, their rate of pay was based on all their Hillsborough teaching experience. But this year, the district and the teachers union agreed to delay the additional pay for teaching experience in Hillsborough until March, when all teachers will get paid at a rate reflecting their previous experience in Hillsborough and elsewhere. The Legislature this year required districts to pay teachers at a rate that reflects their years of experience no matter where that experience was gained. To lessen the $3.5-million financial hit in Hillsborough, district officials and the teachers union agreed to delay the new pay rates until March. But 46 teachers with previous experience in Hillsborough who returned this year were mistakenly paid at the higher rate when they started the school year. "It was nothing but confusion over the new salary rate," Martinez said. Teachers have been told they can return the overpayments in a lump sum, have the amount deducted from future paychecks or delay their March salary increase until the amount is recouped. Martinez said the district had to ask for the money back because of state law and a binding agreement with the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association. Yvonne Lyons, director of the teachers association, said the repayments are fair because 1,000 other teachers will not be paid for their previous experience until March. Still, the payback request has angered many of the teachers. Some say it has left them in a financial bind. At least one teacher quit. And another, Walker Middle School teacher Donald Haynes, said he has decided to cut short his yearlong return from retirement. "It smells," said 71-year-old Haynes, who expects to pay back $600. When he returned to Hillsborough County to teach this October, Haynes was told he would be paid for all his 29 years of experience. But now the district says he should be making the same as an eight-year teacher. "I know they're struggling," Haynes said. "I know they're having money problems. But does the right foot know what the left foot is doing?" James Hinkel, 59, who teaches homebound students, said he received a call about a month ago telling him his salary was going to drop from $140 to $80 a day because of the error. Instead of being paid for his 29 years of experience, Hinkel now gets paid the same as someone with eight years of experience. He has to repay about $750. "I might not have taken a job if i'd known I was going to get paid" the reduced amount, he said. After the mistake was discovered, the district reduced Young's $46,000 annual salary. She's now earning $33,000, just $3,000 more than a beginning teacher even though she has 27 years of teaching experience. She estimates her requested payback to be several thousand dollars, though the district hasn't given her a specific amount. Young said she decided to sue because she received a "pre-contract binder" in July stating her salary would be $46,000. "Nothing mentioned tentative," she said of the letter, which Martinez said the district will no longer send out. Young's lawsuit, filed in Hillsborough County Court, seeks $15,000 in damages. "Teachers usually don't make a stink," Young said. "But it's a lot of money. Where else would they say, "We're to pay you this," and then, "Oops, no we're not.' " - Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com.
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