Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. teachers will get their first paychecks of the new school year two weeks earlier than usual.
BCSC teachers by contract are paid every two weeks, or 26 times a year. But they will receive a 27th paycheck during the January-December 2018 calendar year under this change.
That’s because teachers’ first payment of the 2018-19 school year will arrive in their banking accounts two weeks earlier than in years past. The 26th and final payment for the new school year also will be made two weeks sooner, on Aug. 16, 2019.
To accomplish that accounting change, which only affects certified teaching staff, the BCSC school board approved transferring $1.4 million from the district’s Rainy Day Fund to its general fund.
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While teachers won’t earn any additional money than what their contract calls for, it is an extra one-time cost for the district, said Jim Roberts, BCSC superintendent.
The move was recommended by BCSC administrators especially as a way to help first-year teachers, he said.
A year ago, a new teacher would have received his or her first paycheck on Sept. 15, about six weeks after the Aug. 2 first day of school, which is a long time for a new employee to wait for that first check, Roberts said.
Returning BCSC certified teachers will get two full paychecks on Aug. 31 as a result of the change — the last paycheck of the 2017-18 school year and the first payment of the 2018-19 school year, said Chad Phillips, assistant superintendent for financial services.
Instead of eight pay periods in calendar 2018 under the 2018-19 contract, that has been changed to nine, Phillips said.
“We felt like it was appropriate because of the structural issue with the timing of the contract pay,” Phillips said.
The change will increase returning teachers’ taxable income when filling out 2018 income taxes, Roberts said.
The 27 pay periods is a one-time situation for returning teachers and the district, which will go back to 26 payments beginning with the 2019 calendar year.
As a result of the district taking money out of its Rainy Day Fund, the balance in that account dropped from $6.3 million to $4.9 million. However, state statute permits Indiana school corporations to dip into their Rainy Day Funds for any purpose, Phillips said.
Theoretically, BCSC would recoup the $1.4 million at the end of all payrolls — such as if it ceased operating, Phillips explained.
BCSC intends to increase the balance of its Rainy Day Fund at the end of the school year once it evaluates different funds. If the district collects more revenue than anticipated, that would be one scenario in which money could be transferred back into the Rainy Day Fund, Phillips said.
