HARRISBURG--Harrisburg school officials hired more than 65 teachers in recent years at salaries that put their pay beyond experienced veteran city teachers.

That prompted veteran school employees to file a union grievance last year, asking to earn the same as out-of-district teachers brought into Harrisburg.

Some longtime city teachers fell behind on their "step" schedule of one step per year because of salary freezes as the district faced financial challenges over the years. But their union contract outlined that new hires can't earn more than existing teachers with the same experience.

The district recently issued their response to the union grievance, according to union officials who staged a news conference Wednesday. Instead of raising the pay of longtime city teachers to the competitive rate of the newcomers, however, the district wants to cut salaries for the new teachers and force them to pay back the amounts they were "overpaid," in recent years.

The amount the district is asking back from teachers is about $500,000 overall, according to union officials.

But the teachers weren't "overpaid," according to Jody Barksdale, the president of the Harrisburg teachers' union. They were paid what was offered to them in contracts and agreed to by the school district.

The news that the district plans pay cuts and wants refunds hit many new and veteran teachers hard. One teacher who moved to Harrisburg from Alabama and bought a home here was told she needed to repay $12,000. She won't be able to make her house payment with the slashed salary, Barksdale said.

Union officials are researching whether it's even legal to try to extract money promised and paid to teachers after-the-fact. They plan to fight the district over this issue and possibly take the situation to an independent arbitrator in October.

Teachers recognize the district is in financial straits. The district needed to trim $4 million from its budget this year in part because the district hired too many teachers in the last two years. The administration hired 37 teachers that weren't budgeted or approved by board members because of lacking internal controls for staffing.

The district had to raise taxes for the first time in five years and cut 50 positions, including guidance counselors, special education teachers, classroom teachers and reading specialists to balance the budget. The district, however, used federal money that had previously paid for reading specialists to retain assistant principals whose jobs were marked for furlough, said Paul Kornfield, a teacher and union member.

"We're not looking to bankrupt the district," Barksdale said.

That's why the teachers came up with a compromise, she said. Instead of asking for all teachers who were being paid below their "step" to be brought up to the proper pay level, they asked for 79 of the lowest paid teachers to be brought up to the same level as other "underpaid" teachers.

Adjusting the salary of those teachers would have cost about $320,000 annually when the district budgeted $1.9 million to settle this grievance. It would have meant that the newly hired teachers still would make more than some loyal veterans, but the union asked that the new teachers' pay be held at that amount until the pay of veterans caught up to that level. Then all of the teachers could move upward in pay after that.

But district officials rejected this compromise and instead asked 65 teachers to repay amounts ranging from $600 to $28,000. It's unclear if the district also is seeking backpay from other teachers who have since left the district.

District officials had no comment, according to district spokeswoman Kirsten Keys.

Last school year set a record for the number of union grievances filed because of a new Human Resources director who hasn't previously worked in education, Barksdale said. Union leaders tried to explain the collective bargaining agreement to Curtis Tribue when he started and the fact that new teachers can't be paid more than veteran teachers, but he didn't listen to them on this or other issues, Barksdale said.

The district is supposed to be under the oversight of the state Department of Education as part of state's recovery program for struggling districts, but department officials declined to respond to PennLive's repeated requests for comments about the Harrisburg School District.

Union members filed 33 grievances last school year when typically about 13 are filed. The union has filed seven grievances already this school year, even though it has just begun.

The additional stress on teachers and uncertainty in pay and position have prompted many teachers to flee the district, said Michele Rolko, vice president of the union.

The district hired 175 teachers in the past two years and 92 teachers quit during the last school year. Thirty additional teachers quit over the summer, union officials said, which means the district will have to rely on long-term substitute teachers to start the school year.

Teachers were initially told that positions had to be cut this year because of lower enrollment numbers. But when teachers asked for enrollment figures, none were provided, Barksdale said. District officials then told teachers the cuts were necessary because of a budget deficit.

Harrisburg's starting teacher's salary is about $46,500.

The misstep with the teachers' salaries is the latest financial debacle revealed this year in Harrisburg. The series of problems and scandals have convinced union officials that state receivership might be a better option than the status quo.

Barksdale said she would like to retain community control but would not "shut the door" on receivership because of the intractable problems that seem to be getting worse.

"There is no transparency in this district," she said. "We can't move forward until we can work together...unfortunately the current administration in place isn't doing the due diligence for the kids. They're not making very good decisions for the district. They're hurting the district."

A district transportation supervisor was charged in February with embezzlement, accused of stealing nearly $180,000 from school district accounts

Dana L. Andrews altered 44 checks between May 2016 and November 2017, according to police. Andrews allegedly added her name to 17 checks made payable to the district and forged 27 others using a Boyo Transportation manager's signature.

The crimes were discovered by a bank employee.

This week, school officials announced a leadership shakeup at the high school where they demoted former Principal Lisa Love to one of three "academy director" positions. But school district officials did not answer when asked if her salary of $115,000 would be reduced.

State officials told school board members they needed to hire experienced professionals to fill the positions of business manager and chief financial officer, but the board has taken no action.

Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney, meanwhile, is negotiating a three-year renewal contract with a divided school board for a higher salary. She has a majority of the board who support her staying as leader of the district, while three members wanted to conduct a competitive nationwide search in which the current superintendent could compete as well.