Evening star., 1943-10-14
School Officials
Study Reviisions
In Pay Methods
200 Get Checks
Nine Days Lote;
ESQ Still Unpaid

Public school officials today are
considering revision of payroll pro-
cedure to prevent recurrence of
the nine-day and tWo-week delay
in payment suffered by $3.50 teach
ers this month.
All teachers were scheduled to be
paid on Saturday, October 2, IL days
ago About 2.700 of them got their
checks this Monday. nine days late.
Three hundred more were paid
Tuesday, ten days late. About $50
others teachers, who were not en-
ployed until just before the opening
of school September 20, will not be
paid until tomorrow.
r. w. Holt, chief accountant, re-
sponSible for preparation for the
teachers payroll, said he intends
to ask Superintendent of Schools
Haycock to consider changing the
deadline for the majority Of teacher
appointments from early September
to late June.
Present System.
Under the present system. as
sistant superintendentS do not have
to submit their teacher rolls until
just before The Board Of Education
meets to approve personnel changes
in September. With the hundreds
of changes that war turnover makes
necessary in addressograph plates,
Mr., Holt said, the period of two
weeks between board approval of
these rolls and the day Of payment
is much too short.
There Will still be teachers un-
certain Of returning and more not
appointed until the last minute,
Mr.. Holt said He believes. how
ever, that the ma jority of teacher
appointments. transfers. promotions
and other changes could be re-
ported by superintendents for pas
sage at a late June or early july
board meeting His clerks could
thus prepare much of the payroll
curing the summer, Mr.. Holt ex-
planned, and leave the early fall
days clear for last-minute changes
and additions.
Mr.. Haycock added that an earlier
board meeting this year might have
been easier" He intends, he said,
TO watch the payroll situation
closely next June to decide how
early in the fall he should ask the
, board to meet.
Board Asks Suggestions.
The board members. 7 am sure,
would welcome any suggestions from
| the administrative staff TO avoid the
inconvenience and embarrassment
that delayed checks have caused our
teachers this month" Mrs. Henry
| Grattan Doyle, president of the
board declared She recalled that,
in response to query by board MEM
/ bers. Mr.. Haycock had given as his
/ opinion in July that a September Is
board meeting would be all right"
with school officers. No report on
the critical payroll situation came
to board members during the sum-
mer. she said.
Mr.. Holt has been considering ask
ing for revision of superintendents'
deadllnes on teacher appointments
for sometime. he said but has never
actually done so. He made no rec
ommendation for an earlier board
meeting. he continued. because he
felt 1t would have been "preSump-
tuous."
AS soon as this is over" he said
I nope to work out something with
Mr.. Haycock to avoid the DELAY han
penlng again" The payroll office
and all school officials have been
deluged with calls about pay checks,
Teachers have also phoned newspa
pers and were reported to have ar
RED their problem to Capitol Hill.
TenPayment Method.
Late pay checks in October are
particularly hard on school teachers
because Of the 1O-payment system
under which they are emploved
Pubic school teachers here receive
no pay for the months of JULY and
August when school is not in session,
Thus, they have to live on their June
pay check, received in early july,
untll they get their September pay
checks in October.
On the other hand. the September
payroll takes the longest % comnjle
because OF new appointments. pro-
motions, transfers and other changes
in status. School payroll clerks also
had to handle hundreds Of queries
on income tax estimates in Septem-
DER and then figure income withhold
ing tax deductions on all school
employees
The auditors Office hopes to speed
up processing of teachers checks
at the District Building by purchase
of four accounting machines and
employment of an addressoeraph
OOeratOr