Advertisement Plymouth school error takes money from staff bank accounts Instead of pay, money withdrawn from Plymouth employees accounts Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Some employees in a Massachusetts school district feel like they got a visit from the Grinch.Instead of receiving their paychecks via direct deposit on the day after Christmas, Plymouth Public Schools workers awoke Friday to find that the amount they were to be paid had instead been withdrawn from their bank accounts. About 1,300 workers were affected.Watch NewsCenter 5's report Superintendent Dr. Gary E. Maestas sent an email to employees saying the issue was caused by human error.The error has left some employees thousands of dollars in the red.“I can’t believe this was even possible,” one veteran teacher told the Old Colony. “How can they take money out of your account without your permission?”Town Manager Melissa Arrighi said the town had already determined it was a case of human error.The town was working hard Friday to reverse the reversal, she added, but it will take time.“We have hundreds of banks associated with these accounts, and right now we are calling each, informing them of the situation and asking that they return the funds,” Arrighi said.Maestas says some banks, including Bank of America, Citizens Bank and Santander, won't make corrections until Monday, the next business day.According to Arrighi, 704 debit deductions have been reversed by Saturday, while 591 deductions remain."We intend to work with school employees on any fees they are charged because of this mistake and have commitments from most of the banks to do that as well," Arrighi wrote in a statement. "We are also correcting the internal error so that this cannot happen again."For Lauri and Frank Smith, who both work as teachers in Plymouth, the withdrawals hit twice as hard. Their total loss equaled one month's pay. "It was scary, knowing that we were missing that money," Frank Smith said. Lauri Smith said the timing of the loss was especially hard around the holidays. "We know that teachers don't get Christmas bonuses, but we never thought that we'd be in the position to be giving the town a Christmas bonus," Lauri Smith said. Frank Smith said they were worried for younger teachers in Plymouth who don't make as much. "We're concerned for our younger teachers who are on the lower end of the pay scale," Frank Smith said.