The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) has voiced profound concern over disruptions to educator pay, stemming from issues with Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) new payment platform, MCPS Hub+. The union has filed a class action grievance against the school system in response to ongoing problems, the latest of which has left some employees without timely compensation. Moderately MoCo was first to report on the delayed payments earlier this month.
“Like all workers, our members rely on getting paid on time and in full,” stated MCEA Vice President Danillya Wilson. “These disruptions are unacceptable. These payment problems interrupt the ability of our members to pay bills on time and meet their families’ financial obligations.”
MCEA President David Stein highlighted that issues with the Hub+ platform are not new, having persisted since its rollout last school year. “Although MCPS has assured MCEA that the paychecks will go out on Wednesday, these issues have been going on since MCPS rolled out the platform last school year, and we have flagged this problem for MCPS time and time again,” Stein asserted. “The most recent issue is the most egregious: no one should be subjected to not getting paid on time or in full.”
In response to these persistent payment challenges, MCEA has formally escalated the matter. “In response to these ongoing payment challenges, MCEA has filed a class action grievance against MCPS under our collective bargaining agreement,” President Stein confirmed. “We’re prepared to take any and all actions necessary to make sure our members and their families are made whole.”
MCPS Public Information Officer Liliana Lopez acknowledged the difficulties in a statement provided to us, recognizing that “unfortunately, issues with our new payroll and HR system caused pay disruptions for some team members on summer assignments this past pay period.”
Lopez clarified the scope of the latest delay: “A small number of summer employees who started work after July 11 or whose time cards were entered into our system after July 11 will now be paid by July 30. All other employees received their pay as scheduled on July 25.”
MCPS expressed regret for the impact of these issues. “MCPS sincerely regrets any financial and personal strain this delay may have caused,” Lopez said. “MCPS is committed to working with our associations to ensure our team members are confident they will be compensated correctly and in a timely manner going forward.”