North Carolina school teachers ordered to pay back $1,250 bonuses they accidentally received

A North Carolina school district accidentally gave several teachers a bonus they should not have received, and now the faculty is required to pay the money back.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District said in a statement that 225 high school English teachers inadvertently received a $1,250 recruitment bonus in an off-cycle paycheck paid on Jan. 12, 2024.

The bonus was intended for new teachers hired in an area experiencing a critical shortage.

The district said the teachers who should not have received the bonus but did, are not new to the area experiencing the shortage.

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Row of empty desks in front of whiteboard. Interior of classroom in school. (iStock)

"This was an unfortunate oversight," the district said.

District officials also said the 225 teachers who received the bonus accidentally got a $200 retention bonus every month. But that bonus was also processed in error.

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Several hundred teachers in North Carolina are being forced to give back a bonus they received in error. (iStock)

The compensation department was not aware of the overpayment until Jan. 17, 2024, and the next day they notified all the employees who received the extra money of the error by email.

Employees who were overpaid have the option of repaying the bonus in a lump sum from their February check, or they can choose to pay the money back over the next three months through deductions from their checks, district officials said.

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"We understand the challenges this error may have caused, and we are committed to working closely with each of the teachers impacted," the district said. "We value the work of all CMS employees and sincerely apologize for any distress or inconvenience."