ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The state teachers union, NYSUT is suing the Rochester City School District after repeated failures to pay its teachers in full.

This comes more than three months into the issue, which popped up after the district transitioned to the Oracle paycheck system on July 1.

The Rochester Teachers Association president says despite the district claiming to be close to a fix, the situation has degraded significantly.

“The district doesn’t seem to have a sense of urgency to fix this, although they claim that they’re doing everything they can,” said Adam Urbanski, President of the Rochester Teachers Association, which falls under NYSUT.

“But we still have a thousand employees who aren’t getting paid correctly, who are getting wrong deductions, who are being paid late. So we want to underscore the seriousness of this and to prevent this from going on forever.”

Urbanski says he hopes this planned lawsuit will “compel them to either get get their act together or find another payroll vendor.”

In response, the district sent the following statement:

“We are aware of the Rochester Teachers Association’s announcement regarding its intent to pursue litigation. As this is pending legal action, the District will not comment on the specifics of the case.

The Rochester City School District remains focused on resolving payroll issues and ensuring every employee is paid accurately and on time. District leaders, payroll staff, and vendor partners are working daily to address concerns, correct errors, and strengthen the process so that staff can have confidence in their paychecks moving forward.

Our priority is supporting our employees and their families, and that work continues.”

Thursday will mark 100 days since RCSD’s new superintendent, Dr. Eric Jay Rosser, has been in office.

You can read the union’s statement on their pending litigation below:

At the request of RTA, and on behalf of all our adversely affected members, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) attorneys are finalizing a lawsuit in Monroe County Supreme Court against the Rochester City School District. We are seeking an immediate injunction against the District for failing to pay teachers correctly, on time, and without unlawful deductions. These violations are also breaches of our existing collective bargaining agreement.

Beginning in July 2025, following the transition from PeopleSoft to Oracle, RCSD continues to fail to pay hundreds of teachers and other employees correctly and on time. Documented issues include missed paychecks, late paychecks, duplicate and incorrect deductions, unpaid stipends, loss of accrued leave balances, tax-sheltered contributions and Flexible Spending Account money not timely transmitted, and other payroll related errors. In addition to the lawsuit, RTA has sought the involvement of the Department of Labor and the New York State Comptroller to intercede. NYS Comptroller’s office already notified the District that the matter “merits immediate attention” and demanded detailed accounting, data on the scope of harm, and remediation steps. And RTA’s Class Action suits, filed in early September, will soon be taken to arbitration, as well.

While all the above actions are in process, we continue Impact Bargaining with Superintendent Rosser and seeking interest on delayed payments as well as reimbursement for costs caused by lack of payment, delayed pay, incorrect deductions, and other damages caused by the festering payroll debacle. We are holding these coordinated negotiations in conjunction with our sister unions within the RCSD but will seek separate Memoranda of Agreement once the bargaining concludes. We have also requested that such Impact Bargaining be extended to include members adversely affected during the school year and not just during the summer.

Despite the District’s claims that they are “close to a universal fix,” the situation is getting worse, not better, as new Oracle related problems continue to arise. Nearly 1000 RCSD employees continue to have unresolved issues – more than half of them affecting RTA members. The District’s lack of responsiveness, bad communication, and marginalization of the serious nature of the payroll fiasco continues to erode the already low morale of teachers and other staff. RCSD employees should not have to constantly wonder whether their next paycheck will be correct and on time – nor should they have to constantly spend their own time chasing down payroll errors. We absolutely refuse to accept this as the new normal. That is why we are pressing the District to switch payroll to a competent (non-Oracle) vendor.

We will soon provide more details about the litigation and other aspects of our efforts on your behalf. We will also communicate to you information about planned collective action. Meanwhile, please continue to inform the District, and the RTA, if you are adversely affected by payroll-related issues.

The post Teachers union set to sue Rochester school district over pay delays appeared first on WHEC.com.