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Brownsville school board furloughs eight

By Eric Morris emorris@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

BROWNSVILLE — In the process of adopting a $26.8 million operating budget for the 2016-17 school year, Brownsville Area School Board furloughed eight employees Thursday.

In two separate votes, five non-professional employees and three professional employees were furloughed, including an elementary school teacher, a middle school teacher and a middle school guidance counselor.

The furloughs occur at a time when the cash-strapped district recently consolidated its two elementary schools into a single school and subsequently realigned staff.

After approving three professional furloughs on a 5-2 vote, the board failed to pass a motion for the non-professional furloughs, which had already been factored into the proposed budgetary figures.

What followed was a 35-minute executive session before the board adopted the proposed budget.

A motion was then added to the agenda to furlough five non-professional employees, effective July 31. In the earlier vote on the matter, the effective date of the furloughs was July 18.

The motion passed 6-1, with board President Rocky Brashear casting the lone dissenting vote.

School director John Harvey said that by changing the effective date of the furloughs to the end of July, the board will be able to reevaluate the district’s financial situation before the board’s July meeting in hopes that the state will provide school districts additional funding when it passes its 2016-17 budget.

Several school directors stressed that the furloughed employees will be called back to their positions if the district’s financial position improves.

Superintendent Dr. Phil Savini said the decision to furlough employees was based on the district’s troublesome financial situation.

“We’re hoping we’ll have a more accurate number from the state (in July) that will help us determine what our next steps are,” said Savini.

Savini reiterated that no programs were eliminated in the creation of the budget.

The new budget does not carry a property tax increase and rectifies a revenue shortfall using the entirety of the district’s $150,000 fund balance, said business manager Bill Boucher.

The millage rate was once again set at 18.188 mills for Fayette County and 108.05 mills for Washington County.

In an effort to curb expenses, the board approved an early retirement incentive, which it granted for two employees, Ronald Wahl and Cynthia Martini.

The board also approved a $2 million tax anticipation note (TAN) from First National Bank with a 1.5 percent interest rate and a maturity date of June 30, 2017.

The TAN will cover district expenses in July and August while it awaits revenues, said Boucher.

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