‘When I read it I threw up,’ says teacher given $50k bonus but ordered to give it back after she used it to pay off debt
'When I read it I threw up,' says teacher given $50k bonus but ordered to give it back after she used it to pay off debt
A TEACHER has claimed she was mistakenly given a $50,000 bonus before being made to pay it all back in a short time period.
Kay Bojorquez of Oklahoma applied for a bonus program by means of the Oklahoma State Division of Education, believing she was eligible for the bonus.
She hoped to obtain the extra cash to assist her with strenuous funds after caring for her mother and father for years and paying her son's school tuition bills.
Bojorquez was met with the information of a lifetime in November when she acquired a letter informing her that she certified for the $50,000 bonus.
After receiving the money, she used it to enhance her house and repay debt that she hoped would construct up her credit rating.
Nevertheless, in January she acquired an e mail from the division telling her that she wanted to return the $50,000.
"Once I read the letter, I threw up," Bojorquez advised The Oklahoman.
"I've had two panic assaults within the last two days."
Bojorquez was amongst nine different academics who have been additionally informed they needed to return the money.
Academics have been eligible to obtain between $15,000 to $50,000 relying on their experience.
If they moved to an Oklahoma faculty district and taught courses in Pre-Kindergarten to the third grade or have been a special schooling instructor, they might obtain the bonus.
Nevertheless, they might only obtain the bonus if they committed to a five-year educating time period.
The program additionally said that academics have been solely eligible in the event that they weren't employed at an Oklahoma faculty district within the 2022/23 faculty yr.
Bojorquez reported on the appliance that she was employed as a instructor at Epic Constitution Faculties final yr.
She thought this made her eligible to obtain the bonus as she believed the program was also on the lookout for people who obtained particular schooling certification prior to now five years.
Nevertheless, this made her ineligible as a result of she taught last yr.
"As far as I understood, I met all the standards," she advised the outlet.
"That's why my identify obtained put in the hat in the first place. I assumed I& had& to be a instructor last yr."&
Bojorquez filed a lawsuit on January 29 towards the Oklahoma State Schooling Division and the state faculties superintendent Ryan Walters after they demanded the academics return the bonuses.
The lawsuit accuses the division of breaching its contract and seeks $75,000 in damages and in addition states that Bojorquez just isn't liable to repay her bonus.
In a memo to legislators, Walters famous that "The academics that signed the contract have been aware of the phrases of the contract, what would trigger a clawback, and what the qualifications have been for the bonus," per The Oklahoman.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Oklahoma State Department of Schooling for comment.
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