RCSD tensions over Oracle payroll issues continue to run high 

At a Rochester City School District Board of Education working session last week, a decision about their newsletter turned into a tense argument about Oracle payroll issues and proper discussion procedures.

“There was a responsible way to have this conversation,” said Board President Camille Simmons amid continued interruptions from Commissioner Isaiah Santiago. “And the reality is, we did not do a good job this evening.”

“I think that this is another action for the board to hide and not be transparent with what’s going on with Oracle, one that is affecting thousands of our families, students, parents, and teachers,” Santiago said of the efforts to amend the newsletter.

Typically, the board president and another commissioner publish messages in their respective “President’s Desk” and “Commissioner’s Corner” articles. The amendment to operating procedures discussed last week gave parameters to both articles and made the newsletter draft subject to a board vote.

In addition, it was debated (and ultimately confirmed in a 4-2 vote) that this month’s edition of the newsletter will not include a “Commissioner’s Corner.” This was the primary cause of Santiago’s consternation, the board member who first escalated the discussion.

“The only reason why this is being brought up in the first place is because one of our commissioners, Cynthia Elliott, proposed language in our ‘Commissioner’s Corner’ speaking about the issue with Oracle,” Santiago said. “I don’t think it’s fair that we’re trying to silence a voice about an issue.”

A messy, disruptive transition to the Oracle payroll system this fall has resulted in payments to hundreds of RCSD employees being delayed, containing errors, or missed entirely. Although the RCSD board and Superintendent Eric Rosser have said they are working to correct these mistakes, many issues remain.

Santiago also referenced a joint letter he wrote along with commissioners Beatriz LeBron-Harris and Elliott (who was absent from the meeting) to the state comptroller’s office in early September calling for the state to investigate financial mismanagement at the district level. Simmons said they had every right to take that action, but added it was inappropriate to bring up in this unrelated discussion.

While the comptroller’s office has yet to complete its review of the request, the board approved an independent audit of the payroll issues last month. 

“I just want to point out that, if there is no ‘Commissioner’s Corner,’ then it is just the board president being reflected every month,” said LeBron-Harris. “And I don’t care who the president is, it is not then, in my view, a collective board newsletter.”

Simmons said she agreed with LeBron-Harris’ concern about the president monopolizing the newsletter without a “Commissioner’s Corner.” However, she criticized the way concerns were being expressed on a procedural level and added that Elliott’s column contained misinformation, a claim further disputed by Santiago and LeBron-Harris.

“I find it problematic, inflammatory, and irresponsible. I find the language in there to not be 100 percent factual,” said Simmons.

Vice President Amy Maloy and Commissioners James Patterson and Jacqueline Griffin supported the president when the matter finally came to a vote, with Patterson defending the level of transparency shown by both the board and Rosser.

For his part, Santiago continued to attack that majority on the payroll issue. As the conversation progressed, the commissioner ignored point of order rules and spoke over Simmons and Adrian Neil, general counsel at RSCD.

“It’s unfortunate that this current board majority continues to do actions to hide what’s being done to our staff instead of doing things to actually fix the issues that are impacting our staff,” he said on the issue of transparency.

“This is the problem now; we sit here and we politicize things and pretend that we’re fighting the good fight,” Simmons replied. “It sounds good, but it ain’t true.

“I detest and despise anyone who purports that I don’t care. The whole politicizing of who cares more and who is fighting more, I detest that too. I send it back to the pits from which it comes,” she continued. “Because this is my family, my community that I serve, and my school district that I signed up to serve.”

Also last week, the Rochester Teachers Association filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Monroe County against the district. A statement released Monday by RTA president Adam Urbanski says the union is seeking an immediate injunction on the “long festering” payroll issues.

“We are well into the fourth month of the RCSD’s inability to pay employees on time and correctly. Still, they show no indication of either the capability to fix Oracle or a willingness to switch payroll to a competent vendor,” Urbanski says. “And still, all RCSD employees remain uncertain that their next paycheck will be correct and on time. That is why, refusing to accept this as the new normal, we remain determined to end this fiasco. Together.”

RTA says that it has received support and legal guidance from the state-level union, the New York State United Teachers, on the matter and that this litigation is in addition to outreach made to the U.S. Department of Labor, the state comptroller, as well as class action grievances it has filed.

RTA also is planning collective action at an RCSD speakers’ forum on Oct. 30. Other participating unions will include the Rochester Association of Paraprofessionals, Board of Education Non-teaching Employees, and the Association of Supervisors and Administrators of Rochester.

Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.

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