Many teachers are upset that their paychecks were cut supposedly because they were absent more than the accepted number of days allowed by the Department of Education.
The cuts were made in the last summer checks for public school teachers before the beginning of the new school year for DOE personnel.
Some teachers told KHJ News their checks were cut by $500.
One teacher who was not affected by the cuts said she was very upset to hear what DOE did.
She complained that this was the first time teachers have been docked for absences and there was no warning for the affected employees.
KHJ News understands that the Governor’s Office was made aware of the situation earlier this week.
Deputy Director of Education, Faauifono Vaitautolu explained that the cuts were for those teachers who had unexcused absences beyond the 10 days allowed per school year.
She explained that this was intended to cut down on unexcused absences from the classroom and it had been explained at DOE trainings.
She said probably those affected had forgotten about the policy during the school year.
This afternoon, Vaitautolu reported that all teachers whose paychecks were cut will be reimbursed, and the reimbursements were being processed.
