Farewell To Furlough Days

Updated Saturday with district's news statement at the end.

The kind of furlough days that gave Long Beach public school students a week's break last Thanksgiving won't be happening this year, the school district says.

The development came in contract negotiations today between the Long Beach Unified School District and the Teachers Association of Long Beach, a union representing its instructors. LBUSD says that during the talks it withdrew its proposal for seven unpaid teacher furlough days this year.

Last year, the teachers and other school employees had five unpaid furlough days as a way to cut LBUSD's budget.

The proposed furlough days for all school employees would have provided one-time savings only, the district said in a news release. 

LBUSD budget cuts have forced the layoff of 700 teachers and other school staff.

From the district's website:

In contract negotiations today between the Long Beach Unified School District and the Teachers Association of Long Beach, the school district withdrew its previous proposal to implement seven unpaid furlough days this school year.

The revised proposal means that no LBUSD employees will have furlough days this school year.

The furlough days would have provided one-time savings only.  While the school district still faces significant budget challenges, including the possibility of mid-year cuts by the state, LBUSD will seek longer-term solutions to reduce expenditures without cutting the number of instructional days.

All employees took five unpaid furlough days last school year.