Dayton schools staff to be paid Aug. 15 following court injunction

The judge granted the union’s injunction request to get paid earlier while the lawsuit is being considered.

Pay for the 2025-2026 school year would have started Aug. 29 instead of Aug. 15.

“The district intends to move forward with a 24-pay-period system to begin in July 2026 for all employees, subject to any bargaining obligations that may exist,” said David Lawrence, DPS superintendent. “Again, this is to correct the pre-payment system currently in place for employees.”

Dayton Education Association president Neil Mahoney, who represents DPS teachers, said the DEA got “everything we asked for” and said new teachers, whom he said were among those most harmed by the change in policy, would now be paid more quickly.

“I don’t think the smile has come off my face,” said Mahoney.

The district announced the change in pay schedule late last week and says the change is needed as staff are currently being paid ahead of days they have not yet worked.

The total amount of money paid would not change, and the number of pay dates would not change, but the timeline in which staff are paid does change under the new policy.

The staff unions say the change negatively impacts their members. People have bills to pay, and even if the money gets made up later, it may not help someone’s credit score after they missed a payment, union leaders say.

Recently, the board approved a change to pay staff who wanted to work before school starts, with the district offering to pay for teachers who want to decorate classrooms or do modules.

Lawrence said due to the court decision, employee groups impacted by the recent change in payroll periods will no longer have the opportunity to work additional days on Aug. 4 and 5.

“Employees will receive a full paycheck on August 15th, plus pay owed for any additional days worked between July 28th and August 1st,” he said in a statement.

At the same meeting, dozens of DEA members, along with DPS staff from other unions, showed up with questions about how this would impact their finances and insurance.