Grayslake district moves to improve its accounting

Grayslake Elementary District 46 will install a new software system designed to prevent accounting errors, such as paychecks containing the wrong amount of money for employees.

District 46 overpaid 13 teachers and classroom assistants a combined $92,106 during the past two academic years. Nine instructors were expected to return a total of $60,682 they shouldn't have received, with three others performing extra work instead of giving back the cash.

Officials also said some checks were discovered to be underpayments to employees.

District 46 board members recently approved buying Skyward Inc.'s financial management software designed to improve school accounting. Based in Stevens Point, Wis., Skyward reports more than 1,300 school districts as clients.

"We expect a dramatic decrease in errors," District 46 board President Michael Linder said. "I think this is going to give us better controls."

Complex recalculations of salaries after a new employee contract led to the payroll errors in the past two school years, District 46 officials said.

Documents show an overpaid classroom assistant who resigned was on pace to collect $39,466 in the 2007-08 academic year - double her $19,733 annual salary - until the error was caught in January.

"We had overpays," Linder said. "We had underpays. That's ridiculous."

Former Avon Center School Principal Timothy Irish has been assigned to implement the Skyward system, according to Superintendent Ellen Correll. Part of Skyward's system was designed to provide a quick payroll calculation process.

Irish was removed from his post as Avon Center's principal Dec. 1. He came to the Round Lake Beach school from the Dominican Republic in 2006.

District 46 serves parts of Grayslake, Third Lake, Hainesville, Round Lake, Round Lake Park, Round Lake Beach and Lake Villa.