ELY – As many as 17 Ely teachers are suing the Ely School District over recent deductions to their paychecks, made without their knowledge or authorization.

Teachers acknowledge that the deductions were an effort by the school district to recover overpayments to teachers, made in error, during the 2017-2018 school year.

The Ely School Board went into closed session last week to discuss the pending litigation with the district’s attorney and to develop a response to the claim that was filed last month in conciliation court in Virginia.

Documents provided to the Timberjay this week from the first case, Krista Moyer vs. Ely School District et al, say Moyer claims the school district mistakenly overpaid her in the 2017-2018 school year, then proceeded to reclaim the overpaid funds through a series of payroll deductions. Those deductions were unauthorized, according to the lawsuit, and thereby in violation of the law.

The other 16 teachers, who filed their own separate claims, include Paula Anderson, Kelly Chick, Tiffany Davis, Kaley Hotaling, Mariah Jeske, Tara Johnson, Jennifer Kerntz, Risto Kultula, Cory Lassi, Jason Limp, John Meyer, Kelly Noble, Molly Olson, Michael Rouse, Amanda Vanderbeek and Megan Wognum.

Moyer said in court documents that she was overpaid $1,088.10 over 13 paychecks between August 2017 and May 2018. To recoup the claimed overpayment, Moyer said the school district, through a payroll adjustment, deducted $155.44 from seven paychecks. She is seeking twice the amount of the deduction, allowable under state statute, in the amount of $2,176.20, plus filing fees and costs, for a total of $2,251.20.

The teachers did not respond to a request for comment by the Timberjay.

Ely Superintendent Kevin Abrahamson referred the matter to the school district’s legal counsel, Kelly Klun. “She will provide certain documents and comment. I am not at this time making direct comments concerning this litigation, but may do so down the road,” he wrote in an email response.

Klun provided the following statement to the Timberjay on Monday:

“On behalf of the District, I can confirm that there are 17 teachers who have each filed separate matters in small claims court.  From the perspective of the district, the teachers are not contesting that they did not receive their salary as bargained for, rather the issue involves the apportionment of their salary per pay period over the fiscal year.

The District believes it has fully compensated teachers relative to the 2017/2018 school year and will be filing a response, and in some cases, a counterclaim for monies that have been overpaid to certain litigants.   The district is committed to ensuring all teachers are paid their bargained salary, while maintaining the District’s due diligence of fiscal oversight to its taxpayers.”

On behalf of the school district, Klun filed a counterclaim this week, saying that in Moyer’s case, the overpayment was actually $1,674 and that Moyer owes them that money plus fees and costs of $1,080 for a total of $2,754. 

A court date in the matter was initially set for Wednesday, Dec. 26, but Klun said it now appears it will be rescheduled to mid January or beyond.