News

Actions

Mayor: City will take action after CBS 6 investigation

Posted
and last updated

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Thursday night a CBS 6 News Investigation aired questions about retired Richmond Public School administrators working back in the system for hefty paychecks while eligible to take home a pension check too.

Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones saw the report and said he thinks "it's worth more investigation."

Records provided by the Richmond school district show that there are currently 332 retired employees working back in the system, which Jones admitted is a large number. [READ NOW: Do school employees double-dip with pension and temp paychecks?]

Using the RPS employee database we estimate that the number makes up about 15 percent of the workforce in the system. We asked the Mayor about findings that show many retirees are working under a temporary status but seem to stay in the system for years, making hundreds of thousands in income.

"I'm sure that a piece of what we do will be to look at the information that you're sharing with us today," he said.

The mayor referenced the budget task force assembled to review the school's district's budget after they faced a $24 million deficit. He claimed their short term review was meant to find money quickly but argues in coming weeks their review will be more thorough.

"They just couldn't dive that deep so they basically dealt with the low hanging fruit," he said.

Jones contends with confidence that there will be an active review of the district's use of retirees in coming weeks.

"That's what's going to happen, that's going to come under scrutiny as we move forward," said Jones.

RELATED:

Stay with CBS 6 News for the latest developments on this story. Depend on CBS 6 News for complete coverage of breaking news and important investigations that impact our community. If you have a story idea, click here to send a news tip.