SIMI VALLEY : Teachers to Repay School District

Simi Valley teachers will begin receiving payroll deductions in September until they repay the school district up to $400 each that they erroneously received in extra pay last year, according to an agreement reached Monday by union and district officials.

Retiring teachers will have up to 10 months to return the overpayment, officials said.

“We believe this is the least painful way,” said Bill Davenport, president of the Simi Valley Educators Assn.

Davenport met with Cathi Vogel, associate superintendent of fiscal services, on Monday to explore ways that the district’s 750 teachers can repay between $200 and $400 each that was mistakenly added to their paychecks during the 1989-1990 school year.

It was discovered earlier this month that a total of $350,000 was overpaid to teachers as the result of a district error in computing teachers’ raises.

At tonight’s meeting, board members of the Simi Valley Unified School District will consider adjusting the current salary schedule to reflect June paychecks. The bottom salary range would be changed from $20,863 to $20,643 annually, with the top range going from $46,689 to $46,197, said Dan Hill, senior director of certificated personnel.

In addition, the board will be asked to approve the district’s $69-million budget that reflects $8 million in cuts, including layoffs of 32 temporary teachers and 28 clerical and service employees, including five nurses. The board will also decide tonight whether to spend $22,632 in general fund money for additional library clerk hours for the district’s four junior high schools.