Las Cruces Public Schools board removes employee furlough days

The Las Cruces Public Schools board approved an agreement Tuesday night to give back furlough days to its employees.

As ABC-7 reported back in May, the board approved to remove three days from employee schedules, cutting their salaries in order to save the district money.

Superintendent Stan Rounds tells ABC-7 the move is a compromise for employees.

“For the three days we took in this year’s contract we’re giving you three days of annual leave into the future,” Rounds said.

While the Las Cruces School District can’t write every employee a check now, they’re offering them three vacation days. Rounds says there is also a second option.
“When you sever your employment with us or if you choose to be paid out in the 2018, 2019 school year each day has a value to it,” Rounds said. “You can cash out one or all of the three.”

Rounds says to make it work they’ll set aside 2.1 million dollars for next year’s budget and the following year as well. The National Education Association says the move is a long time coming.

“There are many people that they couldn’t afford to have a three day furlough being figured into their pay so they received a pay cut. But like I said we were able to take a pretty negative thing and we were able to factor into something with a lot of hard work that I believe is a good deal for people,” Mary Parr-Sanchez, with the NEA, said