Oakland school district blames ‘human error’ after paychecks yanked from bank accounts

More than 2,800 Oakland school employees had their most recent paychecks pulled out of their checking accounts this week, a snafu that district officials initially blamed on a bank error before offering a mea culpa a few hours later.

“It was not the bank’s fault,” said John Sasaki, a district spokesman. “We have apologized to Union Bank for making that assessment earlier.”

A district staff member made a mistake, Sasaki explained, saying, “It was human error.”

District officials, though, could not explain how an employee could reverse payroll deposits for nearly 3,000 employees, something they agreed would likely take more than a push of a button.