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SALT LAKE CITY -- "A necessary evil." That's how Utah Office of Education employees are describing the news that they'll lose three paid working days in the first quarter of 2010.
One woman said to KSL, "You have to balance a budget some way."
Others, who did not want to be recorded, said if the choice is to lose a few days of pay or to lose co-workers and friends to the unemployment lines, they'll take the furloughs.
Public Relations director Mark Peterson says the superintendent chose to furlough workers one day for each of the next three months to help spread out the pain.
"State wages are not terrific to start with," he says, "and if you can spread it out over three months, it makes it a little easier for personal budget planning."
The cuts come as part of a wider plan within the State Office of Education, aimed at complying with a request from Gov. Gary Herbert. He's asked all state agencies to find budget savings of 3 percent.
In the State Office of Education, those cuts are coming from a combination of things: the furloughs, which should save around $150,000; a soft hiring freeze, expected to save around $500,000; and other reductions such as the loss of the security guard at the entrance to the building. All told, Peterson says it's actually closer to a 4 percent budget cut.
State Superintendent Larry Shumway says the furloughs, scheduled for Jan. 29, Feb. 26 and March 26, apply only to employees at the Utah Office of Education -- not to local school districts or charter schools.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
