AUBURN - Auburn Enlarged City School District teachers will not have to wait until the new year to receive their first paychecks.

Board of education President Charlie Cator signed an agreement with the Auburn Teachers Association Tuesday that will ensure teachers receive the paycheck that was originally scheduled to be released on Jan. 2 on Dec. 23, the last day before schools close for the holidays.

Additionally, if the state comptroller rules the practice of providing teachers advanced pay for services not yet rendered is illegal, both sides will revisit the issue in negotiations for a new teachers' contract, Superintendent J.D. Pabis said.

As part of state initiative to examine all school districts' business procedures, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office will begin an audit of the district's internal controls over finances next month.

The ATA filed a grievance last month after Pabis said a 1962 state Comptroller decision stated that school districts do not have to pay their teachers before they leave for a holiday vacation.

According to a clause in the teachers' current contract, when a payday falls on a vacation, the paycheck is supposed to be released on the last day of school before the break.

The practice has only been broken twice in the past 40 years, with the association filing grievances each time.

ATA President Sally Jo Widmer previously said the ATA declined a request from the district last May to waive the contract language requiring the payment before the holiday break.

During a second meeting on Nov. 6, the district said the checks would not be issued on Dec. 23.

Widmer could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net