Overview:
Thousands of Henry County School employees are panicking after they were informed that their pay would be delayed five days due to the recent winter weather.
Thousands of Henry County School employees are panicking after they were informed that their pay would be delayed five days due to the recent winter weather.
On Thursday, the district informed the more than 6,000 employees that payroll would be adjusted from Friday Jan. 24 to Wednesday, Jan. 29. Henry County is one of a handful of districts who continue to pay their employees monthly, which means that staff have not been paid since before Christmas.
A teacher who spoke on the basis of anonymity spokesperson shared with Education in Atlanta, that many teachers are having to choose “to pay for groceries or gas in their cars as they have went over 30 days without getting paid.”
In an email to employees, the district stated that “the extended closure of district and school facilities this week due to inclement winter weather and hazardous road conditions” was to blame for the delay.
Makenzie McDaniel, the Henry County Board of Education representative for District 2, expressed frustration on social media to the community. “Since I have been on the Board of Education, I have advocated for bi-weekly pay akin to what other districts are doing. In 2025, living on one paycheck is ridiculous. It doesn’t matter what used to happen, all that matters is what is going on now. To wake up this morning and see this message is gut wrenching. So now the questions are where do we go from here? How did we get here? Why wasn’t staff and the Board of Education notified earlier versus the day before? How do we remind our staff members that they are family and that we cherish their contributions? How can we ask staff to come to school and teach our scholars when so many are now thrust into economic hardships? While this is NOT the Henry County way, this path we will not journey down again. To the many staff members who have been impacted, I know that “I apologize and heartfully sorry” may mean nothing at this time but I truly am. And finally, to those who have alleged that I was paid as staff wasn’t is false.”
Henry County Schools is the 8th largest school district in Georgia with nearly 44,000 students across 53 schools.
The now date for employees to be paid will be January 29.