Teachers working without pay in US military schools during shutdown received debt letters

By Haley Britzky, CNN

(CNN) — Teachers in US military schools abroad who have been working without pay during the government shutdown received letters this week telling them they owed money to the government, CNN has learned.

Debt letters outlining that personnel have been “overpaid” by various amounts ranging from several hundred dollars to more than $1,000, according to letters viewed by CNN. The letters, sent by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, told employees they have 70 days from the date of the letter to pay the debts.

On Thursday, the Department of Defense Education Agency (DoDEA) told employees that the letters were sent out in error due to a glitch that will be corrected once the government is funded. But impacted employees told CNN the letters added to the stress of Defense Department civilians who have been deemed essential and have worked without pay since the shutdown began on October 1.

“DoDEA claims it will be corrected at some point after the shutdown ends but gave no indication of when or what the process to correct it will be,” one employee said. “So, in the meantime, DoDEA teachers will continue to not only work for no pay but also be charged a debt for each day we are forced to work without pay.”

Another DOD civilian pointed to longstanding issues with the military’s pay system and said they have little faith the issue will be resolved quickly. A third individual living overseas posted on social media that they received the letter and said the stress “is becoming overwhelming.”

The DoDEA system has 161 schools at home and abroad at US military installations, according to the agency’s website, and teaches more than 60,000 students. As of 2022, there were more than 11,000 full-time personnel within DoDEA.

The Trump administration has ensured active members of the military are being paid throughout the shutdown.

The director of the DoDEA, Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, told employees in an email on Thursday, which was obtained by CNN, that the agency is aware of the “various pay-related issues.” DoDEA is “working closely with the Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS) to obtain all necessary information regarding the problems that are employees are experiencing due to payroll status changes,” she said.

The issue largely was due to a coding error due to the shutdown, Schiavino-Narvaez’s email said. All employees must be identified by a code for “Leave Without Pay” during the lapse in appropriations for timekeeping purposes, she said. Teachers and administrators’ salaries are based on the number of days in a school year they are paid for, the email goes on to explain, and therefore when a Leave Without Pay code is entered into the pay system, “the payroll system automatically adjusts for overpayment because fewer than the required number of days will be recorded.”

“Unfortunately, due to the age of its system and regulatory requirements, DFAS is unable to override these adjustments, and a debt letter is automatically issued,” the director’s email said.

Schiavino-Narvaez specifies in the email that once the government is funded, timecards will be corrected – but she also told employees that it may take “several pay periods to fully reconcile and cancel” any outstanding debt.

Employees “are not required to make any payments on debt letters at this time,” she said, adding that she recognizes “we are all experiencing extraordinary challenges due to the lapse in appropriations.”

CNN previously reported that the morale of civilian employees around the globe — many of whom are veterans or military family members themselves — is dropping rapidly with many considering leaving government service.

The first affected DoDEA employee told CNN that to say the director’s reassurances “don’t mean much is an understatement.”

“They have no urgency to correct this and just tell us to basically wait and hope for the best,” the employee said, “because they don’t know how to fix this and don’t seem overly concerned with finding a method to fix this.”

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