$55 Million later, SFUSD's New Payroll System Still Has Problems

The Facts

The SF Unified School District (SFUSD) has a new payroll system to replace the disastrous old system. But the new system's launch isn't without its own issues. According to Jill Tucker at The Chronicle, The Teachers' Union filed a state labor complaint Monday against the district's new Frontline payroll system, which launched July 1. They allege it has affected over 100 teachers with incorrect paychecks with issues including wrong union dues deductions, missing vacation pay, and incorrect substitute teacher compensation. The district reports 97% accuracy with the new system.

The Context

The new $20 million Frontline system replaced EMPower, a custom-built payroll system that cost $35 million and never functioned properly before being scrapped last month.

The improvement from EMPower is substantial. The previous system forced the district to declare a state of emergency in November 2022 and establish a 60-person command center to resolve thousands of employee complaints. Principals wrote personal checks worth thousands to help teachers pay rent while waiting for proper payment.

The GrowSF Take

A 97% success rate, while imperfect, is a step in the right direction. Still, 97% means one out of every 30 employees is having a payroll issue. That's a lot!

We're glad the new Board of Education and Superintendent Maria Su went forward with scrapping the old system, but we're frustrated to see that, yet again, district employees are facing payroll issues. We'll be closely watching how quickly Superintendent Su addresses these concerns.