Crane board OKs new payroll schedule
Change brings district into compliance with Arizona statute
Employees in the Crane School District are adjusting to a new payroll schedule, board members heard Tuesday morning.
Chief of Finances and Operations Dale Ponder updated the governing board at its monthly business meeting about the changeover.
“Basically, the system moves to paying employees for hours actually worked,” he noted.
Due to a 2014 state statute, school districts are unable to provide certain services in advance, which also includes personnelrelated expenses such as payroll, Ponder said.
Ponder said that the district had always paid employees on an “ahead” schedule, in response to a question from board clerk Sarah Claridge.
“This reset will only happen one time,” he said. The new pay period will be Thursday through Wednesdays, instead of Sunday through Saturday for classified employees. The first payday for teachers will be Aug. 10.
“That has allowed us to have more processing time,” Ponder said of moving the payroll days.
While some employees will receive pay for a limited number of days, the process has only delayed payroll by one week, Ponder noted, instead of three weeks.
“Since the law went into effect in 2014, there has never really been a good time for us to be able to say ‘We’re going to have a three-week break in between checks,’” Ponder explained. “It worked out this year because June ended on a Friday at the end of a pay period, so it was a little clear that obviously there was still an impact for employees, so at some point we just had to rip the band-aid off.”
One drawback, Ponder noted, is that annualized pay and balloon pay will no longer be available to hourly employees. However, the payroll system allows employees to divert into three different accounts, which employees may use to save in a way that suits their purposes.
The change will bring the district into compliance with the Uniform System of Financial Records, which is the standard used by the majority of school districts and the Arizona Auditor General’s Office.
The board voted to approve the payroll changes in a 4-0 unanimous vote. Board president Brenna Paulin was absent.
In other business, the district board took under advisement a new policy on the transportation of students on field trips. Ponder noted after the meeting that the change was needed to ensure drivers transporting district students maintain the correct insurance coverage.
The board also held a hearing on its maintenance and operations budget for the 2018-2019 school year. No public comments were submitted, and the budget later passed in the regular meeting.