MAHOPAC, N.Y.—Mahopac school officials are pushing back against internet rumors that the district wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars by making years of overpayments to employees and then covering up the waste.
The accusations began after the district discovered overpayments made to nine employees during the 2023-24 school year. Superintendent Christine Tona acknowledged the overpayments but said the numbers being bandied around online are “inaccurate” and wildly inflated.
Tona told Mahopac News the overpayment was caused by a data entry error made in 2019, which transposed two numbers and led the nine employees to receive an extra $250-3,000 each over the course of the school year. (The numbers are prorated, with the employees overpaid by $3,000 representing those who worked for the entire school year). Looked at another way, each employee received $250 more per month.
According to Tona, the mistake was discovered when the district’s payroll department noticed that the employees were being paid less in 2024-25. She said the total overpayment for the nine employees combined added up to “less than $20,000.”
The issue became public after members of the Facebook Group Mahopac Dads and Moms UNCENSORED [sic] accused the district of covering up a waste of taxpayers’ money to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. One member of the group told Mahopac News that they were told the district was overpaying an employee an extra $30,000 per year and believed the overpayments added up to at least $300,000 over 10 years—and possibly more. Some members of the group are demanding an audit.
Tona issued a letter to a member of the Facebook group (which was subsequently posted on the forum) acknowledging the error but saying the overpayments were far lower (and over a much shorter period) than the accusations made online
“In July 2024, Business Office staff members identified an error in our payroll software where, due to human error in 2019, a number was incorrectly entered into our system causing the salary on one particular step of the salary schedule to be increased by $3,000,” Tona explained in the letter, going on to offer the same numbers she shared with Mahopac News.
“The payroll department found the error and it was discussed and reviewed with the assistant superintendent for finance/operations and the assistant business manager/treasurer,” Tona said later. “This is typical protocol.”
Tona said the administration was working with its legal and accounting personnel to resolve the issue and expects to make a presentation to the Board of Education at its Oct. 24 working meeting. The board will ultimately have to decide how to proceed. As one UNCENSORED poster pointed out School Board President Jonathan Schneider is the managing partner of the accounting firm Schneider Financial Group and brings experience dealing with financial matters.
“While the Board of Education will discuss anything they can in public, there will be some discussion that will take place in executive session with the school district’s attorney present,” Tona said in her letter. “As with the confidential nature of executive session topics, members of the community will not be able to attend the executive session portion of the meeting.”
The letter did little to quiet some members of Mahopac Dads and Moms UNCENSORED, who have encouraged people to come to the school board meeting and demand answers.
The caller to Mahopac News said some in the group believe the matter should be referred to Putnam County DA Robert Tendy and demanded an audit by the New York State Comptroller’s office.
In Facebook posts responding to emails from the district, UNCENSORED administrator Frank Ciano said the district was making conflicting statements and encouraged people to go to the school board meeting.
“We got so far more to come,” Ciano wrote in one post. “I think that she is lying. I think there’s more money out there than they are telling us. We’ll get to the bottom of it--squeaky wheel gets the oil [sic].”
Tona said no regulatory agency has contacted the school.
Mahopac’s next Board of Education meeting is a work session set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 24 at the Falls School (100 Myrtle Ave.) PD Room. The board’s October regular meeting is set for Tuesday, Oct. 29 at Mahopac High School. Both meetings are open to the public and are streamed live on the district’s YouTube channel.
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