WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Teachers, union members pack BOE meeting

Teachers, union members pack BOE meeting

By Brooke Kelley - bio | email

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Many Savannah-Chatham teachers are hoping to send a strong message to the district about furlough days, specifically the number of days teachers in the district are being required to take off.

Wednesday was the second of three scheduled furlough days for teachers in the Savannah-Chatham school district and many teachers, parents and others spent the morning protesting in front of the Board of Education building on Bull Street.

The decision to furlough teachers was made after Georgia governor Sonny Perdue asked school districts across the state to trim their budgets by three percent.

But that decision isn't sitting well with many teachers.

Teachers say they recently got an email from superintendent Dr. Thomas Lockamy warning them there might be even more furlough days in addition to the three already set aside.

Teachers say the three furlough days means a two percent decrease in their salary.

Many teachers also want to why the district is having a board meeting on a scheduled furlough day.

But ultimately, the biggest complaint from many Savannah-Chatham teachers is that these scheduled furlough days fall on district planning days and that's only hurting the students.

Lisa Williams is a teacher and spent the morning protesting in front of the BOE building.

"They are missing time because teachers are not able to plan team decisions to better help our children," she said. "We have progress reports to do, records to do, all this stuff we can't do at home, all the stuff we would do on planning days and they have taken them from us," said Williams.

Teachers tell us they would like to see a copy of the budget and maybe help figure out other ways to cut back rather than using furlough days.

At the BOE meeting Wednesday afternoon, board member Lori Brady said the teachers should be marching in front of the state capitol  because that's where decisions on furloughs are being made.

Alfreda Goldwire with the Savannah Federation of Teachers addressed the board as well. She told board members that some teachers are having a tough time paying their bills and furlough days really impact their finances.

At the meeting, the board also approved a tax anticipation note. That means they have to borrow $20 million to pay salaries and bills. This is the first time in 20 years that the board has had to do this.

The board also said they are moving forward with Esplost projects for a new Beach High School and a Godley Station K-8 school.

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