Furlough Days

Ron DuPree took time off from his job at the University of Maryland downtown to pay a parking ticket in Towson, but the tall black doors to the old courthouse in the Baltimore County seat were inexplicably locked."

County and school employees were told this year to take several furlough days to help balance the budget. Employees already had been denied salary increases because of the fiscal woes.However, recently the commissioners and school board reversed their decision, canceling any remaining furlough days and refunding the money lost for those already taken. However, it's doubtful at this point that they will receive pay raises.Do you agree with the original furlough policy? Once the furlough policy was implemented, should the commissioners and school board have canceled them?

Baltimore County School Superintendent Robert Y. Dubel has proposed a new teacher furlough plan that calls for two half-days instead of four and will send students home for the summer a day earlier than previously arranged.Under the new plan -- the third the school administration has proposed in two months -- this Friday, March 27, and June 16 would be half-days. June 17 and June 18 would be full furlough days for teachers.The last day of school for students would be the June 16 half-day.

The county commissioners approved a proposed $118 million 1993 operating budget, but Commissioner Julia W. Gouge said she worries that eliminating the reserve fund could jeopardize the county's ability to cope with fiscal emergencies.The commissioners' 2-1 vote wouldn't increase property tax or income tax rates, but would raise about $500,000 through new fees.A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 14 at Westminster High to discuss the budget, which maintains the current tax rate of $2.35 per $100 of assessed property value.

Saying, "We held off as long as we could," Baltimore County School Superintendent Robert Y. Dubel announced yesterday that all 10-month employees will be furloughed for four days, and all 12-month employees will have five days of furloughs.The furloughs represent a deduction of 1.9 percent from each person's annual salary, school officials said.County Executive Roger B. Hayden announced furloughs for county employees Jan. 2 as a way to save money, based on the $23.5 million state budget cut imposed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer.

A colleague of Robert Y. Dubel yesterday referred to the Baltimore County school superintendent as "the most incurable optimist" he knew. He meant it as a compliment. But in these times of budgetary woes, superintendents diagnosed as incurable optimists ought to visit the school nurse.Dr. Dubel got the county school system in a mess by not mapping out an early plan to deal with the $8 million in budget cuts his department faces. The superintendent has now proposed furloughing teachers, but they still have to work on their furlough days.

Baltimore County School Superintendent Robert Y. Dubel has proposed a new teacher furlough plan that calls for two half-days instead of four and will send students home for the summer a day earlier than previously arranged.Under the new plan -- the third the school administration has proposed in two months -- this Friday, March 27, and June 16 would be half-days. June 17 and June 18 would be full furlough days for teachers.The last day of school for students would be the June 16 half-day.

County and school employees were told this year to take several furlough days to help balance the budget. Employees already had been denied salary increases because of the fiscal woes.However, recently the commissioners and school board reversed their decision, canceling any remaining furlough days and refunding the money lost for those already taken. However, it's doubtful at this point that they will receive pay raises.Do you agree with the original furlough policy? Once the furlough policy was implemented, should the commissioners and school board have canceled them?

When County Executive Robert R. Neall agreed last December to restore wage concessions to school employees who had been asked to take four furlough days, few workers actually expected to see the money.But earlier this week, Neall announced that some money was, in fact, being returned. On Wednesday night, the Board of Education voted to return the $811,672 to school employees.School system Budget Officer Jack White said the money equals about four-fifths of a day's pay. Instead of four furlough days, employees now must give up 3.2 days, he said.

The Baltimore County teachers' union rallied yesterday at Board of Education headquarters in Towson to protest mandatory furlough days that Superintendent Robert Y. Dubel imposed last week.With signs saying, "Furloughs, the most unfair of taxes" and "These cuts won't heal," about 150 educators stood outside the board offices on Charles Street yesterday as evening rush-hour traffic breezed past.The teachers were upset over Dr. Dubel's plan to impose the furlough days during time the teachers would normally be working in school without students.

Arundel school system reduces furlough days 2 The Anne Arundel County Board of Education voted Wednesday to cancel one of its planned furlough days for all school system employees. The board voted unanimously to reduce the number of furlough days to between one and four. Principals and senior and executive staff will incur the most days; teachers will have two. The move, which was recommended to the board by Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell, was possible because of a number of cost-saving actions, school officials said.

A furlough plan for state university employees could begin early next month and require top administrators to take as many as 10 unpaid days under guidelines approved Friday by the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents. The regents gave university presidents flexibility to tailor furlough plans to the needs of each campus, but the vast majority of the system's more than 21,000 employees will feel the effects. Details are not final, but Chancellor William E. Kirwan said he expects to receive plans from each president early next week and will probably approve them by the end of the month.

Harford offices closed Friday for furlough 1 Harford County employees will be off Friday, government offices will be closed and only essential services will be provided in the first of five furlough days. The unpaid leave will help offset local government funding cuts imposed by the state of Maryland, officials said. County offices will also be closed on Sept. 4, Oct. 12, Dec. 24, 2009 and April 5, 2010. Employees who work around the clock at water and waste water operations and Emergency Operations Center personnel will not follow the same furlough schedule.

State universities are finalizing plans this week to furlough thousands of employees, trying to minimize the impact on students while cutting $16 million in salary costs from the budget. The University of Maryland, College Park said no classes will be canceled as a result of the furlough of nearly 7,000 employees on its campus. Employees making $30,000 and above will take from one to five days, with the highest-paid workers taking the most days. Those earning less than $30,000, as well as graduate students and student employees, are exempt.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is proposing temporary furloughs for more than 67,000 state employees and a shutdown of state government operations for two days during the coming holidays, according to internal documents provided yesterday to The Baltimore Sun. The proposal would save $34.4 million and help to keep the anemic state budget in the black, according to a letter from Budget Secretary T. Eloise Foster addressed to union officials and provided to The...

Hoping to prevent additional layoffs in the Baltimore school system, principals and other administrators told school officials yesterday that they would accept an eight-day furlough as an alternative cost-cutting measure to pay down the school system's $58 million cumulative deficit. Jimmy Gittings, president of the Public School Administrators and Supervisors Association, which represents about 500 principals and other school managers, said the group voted Wednesday night at a city elementary school to accept the furlough days.

County and school employees were told this year to take several furlough days to help balance the budget. Employees already had been denied salary increases because of the fiscal woes.However, recently the commissioners and school board reversed their decision, canceling any remaining furlough days and refunding the money lost for those already taken. However, it's doubtful at this point that they will receive pay raises.Do you agree with the original furlough policy? Once the furlough policy was implemented, should the commissioners and school board have canceled them?

County and school employees were told this year to take several furlough days to help balance the budget. Employees already had been denied salary increases because of the fiscal woes.However, recently the commissioners and school board reversed their decision, canceling any remaining furlough days and refunding the money lost for those already taken. However, it's doubtful at this point that they will receive pay raises.Do you agree with the original furlough policy? Once the furlough policy was implemented, should the commissioners and school board have canceled them?

County and school employees were told this year to take several furlough days to help balance the budget. Employees already had been denied salary increases because of the fiscal woes.However, recently the commissioners and school board reversed their decision, canceling any remaining furlough days and refunding the money lost for those already taken. However, it's doubtful at this point that they will receive pay raises.Do you agree with the original furlough policy? Once the furlough policy was implemented, should the commissioners and school board have canceled them?

The county commissioners approved a proposed $118 million 1993 operating budget, but Commissioner Julia W. Gouge said she worries that eliminating the reserve fund could jeopardize the county's ability to cope with fiscal emergencies.The commissioners' 2-1 vote wouldn't increase property tax or income tax rates, but would raise about $500,000 through new fees.A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 14 at Westminster High to discuss the budget, which maintains the current tax rate of $2.35 per $100 of assessed property value.