Austin ISD teachers must pay back $2K stipend after district processing error

After a payroll processing error made by Austin ISD, teachers are now being forced to pay back a $2,000 stipend payment they received on their June 30 paychecks.

What happened

The district sent teachers an email July 1 explaining the situation. According to the email sent by Brandi Hosack, AISD chief human capital officer, a processing error led to teachers being mistakenly paid a $2,000 stipend that was intended only for newly hired bilingual, special education, career and technical education, math, and science teachers. Hosack said the stipend was part of the fiscal year 2022-23 compensation plan.

Notable quote

"I want to express my sincere apologies for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused," Hosack said in the email. "We understand the importance of accurate and fair compensation and are taking immediate action to rectify the situation."

What's being done

In an email sent to teachers on July 5, district officials explained their plan to rectify the situation:

• Correction of payment
  • The overpayment will be paid back to the district in either four monthly payments of $500 or one lump sum of $2,000.
• Additional validation steps
  • A new enterprise resource planning system has been put in place and will streamline how stipends are distributed in the future.
• Open communication
  • Transparent communication will be maintained throughout the process.

Hosack explained the district takes incidents such as this seriously.

“We aim to provide a fair and equitable work environment,” Hosack said. “I take personal responsibility for the error and sincerely apologize for this mistake.”

Teachers with further questions are encouraged to reach out to the human capital department via Let's Talk, Hosack said.