The backstory
On Sept. 22, the district experienced a pay schedule delay for employees who get paid on a monthly basis. According to SMCISD, the district submitted payroll information Sept. 21, but due to a file size error, the files were not submitted successfully until after its 6 p.m. deadline from Frost Bank. The issue caused a delay in payments being made to employees.
SMCISD Chief Financial Officer Denise Garcia apologized to employees affected by the delay of payments and said the department is putting new systems in place to prevent the situation from occurring again in the future.
“I would like to address some misconceptions about the incident,” Garcia said. “First of all, [SMCISD] had sufficient funds to make payroll. Second, at no time was this incident planned or intentional. Lastly, there was never a point in time that we expected to miss the scheduled deadline.”
A closer look
Garcia said 75% of employees received funds Sept. 22 with an additional 15% receiving payment the following day and the remaining employees being paid Sept. 25.
“I witnessed firsthand the determination, the frustration, the disappointment, the tears that came when the file was not accepted before the banks cut off,” Garcia said. “The payroll team and I would like the public to know and understand that at no time that we take the situation lightly.”
