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School district to furlough teachers, administrators

Published Monday, November 23, 2009 8:50 PM

By Michael Tannebaum
Summerville Journal Scene ®

The Dorchester District 2 School Board voted unanimously Monday to furlough teachers and classified employees three days and administrators six days.

The district-wide furloughs may begin as early as January and will conclude by the end of the school year. They will save the district an estimated $1.65 million, according to Chief Financial Officer Allyson Duke.

The furloughs will take place on three of the following six staff development days: Jan. 11 or Jan. 12, March 22 and June 1, 2 or 3.

On Tuesday morning, district officials were scheduled to meet with principals to ask that they obtain feedback from their teachers as to which three of the aforementioned six days would least affect them.

“I think it will disappoint people, but I don’t think anyone will be surprised,” Superintendent Joe Pye said of the furloughs. “Principals are saying go ahead and save money and do furloughs.”

Pye said there’s a chance the district will be able to “give back” one furlough day at the end of the school year should it be deemed unnecessary.

Each furlough day will save the district about $550,000, which officials say is necessary to help offset a $4.7 million reduction in general fund revenues for the 2009-2010 fiscal year that includes cuts at both the local and state level.

A net decrease in property taxes tallying nearly $2 million coupled with a net decrease from state sources totaling more than $4 million has left the district with no other option than to furlough employees, officials said.

Board member Barbara Crosby, a teacher in Berkeley County, said she believes teachers will understand the need for furloughs.

“From a teacher’s point of view, I’d say go ahead and take my three days now because that’ll help the district (and) it keeps (my) job,” Crosby said. “You might take a little, but you’re not taking it all.”

Pye said that by furloughing employees, approximately 27 teaching positions over a full school year would be saved.

During the Nov. 23 workshop held prior to the regularly scheduled board meeting, officials discussed furloughing teachers either two or three days. They ultimately agreed upon three days based on Duke’s belief that the state may cut the district an additional $500,000 within the next couple months.

A series of preliminary reductions that included leaving vacant about 30 positions that came open through attrition and financing technology purchases over multiple years saved the district about $3.3 million. Nevertheless, the district still faced about a $1.4 million funding shortfall prior to Monday’s decision to furlough employees.

Implementing furloughs district-wide rather than allowing each employee to choose the three of the six days he or she would prefer will save the district additional money because buildings will be closed, which will save on electricity, Pye said.

The state mandates that administrators be furloughed twice as many days as teachers and classified employees, said Duke, who added that in addition to the three district-wide furlough days, administrators will be able to choose their other three unpaid days off.

During the workshop, board members expressed concerns that furloughs would affect teacher morale and suggested giving teachers a free lunch or allowing them to wear blue jeans to work for a day as ways to show them that they are appreciated.

The district on Monday also unanimously voted to reduce department budgets by an additional 5 percent, which is expected to save about $150,000, and to slash each school’s per pupil allocations by another $5, which will save an additional $110,000.

Officials say the district has exhausted all resources to deal with this year’s cuts, which leaves Dorchester 2 in a precarious position going forward.

“Next year is going to be worse,” Duke said. “We’re going to have to make some really tough decisions next year, but we just have to try and get through this year.”

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