Rochester board hears progress report as Oracle payroll issues continue; district weighing alternatives

The Rochester City School District told the Board of Education on Nov. 20 that it has reduced the backlog of Oracle payroll tickets but continues to work through complex payroll defects and retirement-file rejections.

Chief Financial Officer Mr. McDowell said ticket counts fell from about 1,797 a month ago to 897, and the district has closed roughly 2,200 tickets in the last month. He reported that unresolved reports of employees not being paid dropped from roughly 582 to about 178'195. "No, a couple months ago, it would take us a week, two weeks to be able to actually react to certain things," McDowell said. "That time is people's money."

McDowell described workforce and process changes: hiring temporary clerks, interviewing for a director of financial management, creating a triage system that assigns payroll issues to individuals, and expanding payroll staff to an expected 16 people by Jan. 1 to handle the cycle. He also said Novo Modis (the implementation support firm) will add staff starting Dec. 1 and Oracle extended its contract to Dec. 31 without additional fees.

McDowell acknowledged the work is not yet sustainable at current intensity: "We have 20 people working nights, weekends to get this done," he said, and added concern about long-term sustainability of that operating tempo.

The presentation also included retrospective numbers: the district issued more than 4,100 off-cycle payments totaling nearly $1.5 million to correct issues for employees not paid through the system. McDowell said the nature of remaining issues is more complex than earlier errors and will take longer to resolve.

Board members pressed administrators on training, retirement-account filings and vendor selection. Commissioner Santiago asked how many payroll staff are trained in Oracle; McDowell said training proficiency varies with users and that the district is arranging additional professional learning. On retirement files, McDowell said July and August ERS files were accepted by the state, September and October files are being corrected after state rejections, and TRS file work is progressing. He said state retirement systems are not issuing late notices because they recognize the district's situation and that the district has funds to honor obligations.

Superintendent Eric J. Rosser and deputy administrators said they are identifying alternative payroll providers and expect to brief the board with timelines and potential costs at the Dec. 9 workshop if change is recommended.

Ending: The district said it will continue remediation efforts, expand payroll staffing and return with updated timeline and cost options at the upcoming December workshop; administration also committed to providing the board with implementation schedules and audit evidence of the initial Oracle roll-out on request.