Naugatuck Schools Consider Furlough Days
By LAUREN PETTY
Updated 12:03 AM EDT, Wed, Sep 23, 2009
As the Naugatuck Board of Education looked to cut more than $1 million at a budget workshop Tuesday night, teachers and staff anxiously stood around them, hoping the cuts don't mean layoffs.
"We don't want to see anyone losing their jobs," said Sarah Poynton, a paraprofessional and the president of the union representing non-certified staff. "We already have people losing their homes when they are working 40-hour weeks."
Also at the meeting was Charley Marenghi, vice president of the Naugatuck Teachers' League.
"It's not just a bottom line. It's about humans, who are professionals, and most importantly the kids they teach," Marenghi said.
To avoid layoffs, Naugatuck Superintendent John Tindall-Gibson proposed several furlough days.
Possible days include:
- October 13
- November 25, the half-day before Thanksgiving
- December 23, the half-day before Christmas break
The superintendent says those furlough days would bring a total savings of $555,000. That would mean about one lost day of classes for students, but three full days of lost pay for staff.
"We'll be paying for mistakes that people in the administration have made last year and the year before. It's going to be a tough pill to swallow and very difficult to negotiate," said Charley Marenghi.
The unions would have to agree the furlough days and to the another option -- early retirement.
Marenghi thought teachers would be more receptive to the early retirement option.
"Early retirement gives the district the ability to retire teachers with dignity, by giving them an incentive to go, but at the same time you don't lose those teachers in the classroom," said Marenghi. "The least impact on children is early retirement."
Superintendent John Tindall-Gibson and several board members all said layoffs are a last resort, but could be necessary if the unions don't agree to the other options.
The superintendent projected cutting about 13 positions, mostly at the high school, would save about $787,000.
"Every day is money spent, and once it's spent, you can't recover it," said Tindall-Gibson. "So we are anxious to make some hard decisions here, as soon as we can."
The Board of Education instructed the superintendent to begin negotiations immediately with the various unions about furlough days and early retirement.
They hope to have concrete proposals when the board meets again on Monday, October 5.
First Published: Sep 22, 2009 9:33 PM EDT
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