news-record.com

A new state law that aims to reduce unnecessary paperwork and reports inadvertantly created more paperwork for districts that are now trying to solve a problem created by one the law's provisions.

House Bill 720, called the School and Teacher Paperwork Reducation Act, modified a previous statute by prohibiting districts from paying teachers at the beginning of a school year for a full months' work. Instead, the law requires districts to pay 10-month employees for a full month's work and before Aug. 31. Of course, that's technically impossible since most employees report back to work in mid- to late-August.

"This has nothing to do with paperwork," said Sharon Ozment, chief financial officer for Guilford County Schools, said about the provision. "It just got stuck in there."

The district awaits a technical correction to the law from lawmakers, but in the meantime, officials are trying to address teachers' primary concern: potentially going three months this summer without pay. 

The Board of Education tentatively approved on Thursday a change in how the district will pay teachers and other 10-month employees in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Employees would receive partial checks in August and June of the next school year as well as a partial advance of a locally funded salary supplement to help employees ride out the summer. This option received the most support from teacher groups.

The board will give employees time to comment before finalizing the plan. You can read all of the proposed options here.