Friday was a furlough day for Tulsa School employees

Cutting corners by cutting days. The Tulsa Public School district is trimming its budget, by requiring employees to take furlough days. Friday was one of those furlough days. <br><br>News on Six reporter

Friday, October 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Cutting corners by cutting days. The Tulsa Public School district is trimming its budget, by requiring employees to take furlough days. Friday was one of those furlough days.

News on Six reporter Ashli Sims talked with one school employee, who had the day off Friday. Maia Weaver is spending some time at home. She's not sick and she's not on vacation. She's home because the Tulsa Public Schools budget crunch is forcing her to take a day off, without pay.

"I'm not thrilled about losing my pay raise but for me this is kind of my little part of what I can do to help everybody else keep their jobs." It's not just students and parents who are feeling the budget crunch. All 12-month TPS employees are taking days off without pay, saving the district almost half-a-million dollars. "I'm not particularly thrilled that it came around Christmas time thatâ€™s not going to be much fun but I can tell you this much that I'd be a lot less thrilled if they cut my son's drama program."

Its just one of the many things Tulsa Public Schools is doing to save money. So for four days this year this parking lot will be virtually empty and this building will be closed. "Dr. Sawyer didnâ€™t have to give us this furlough day he could have required us to come to work and just taken the pay cut and I think a lot of people didnâ€™t figure that in." Weaver remains upbeat even as she calculates what the pay cut will do to her budget. She admits itâ€™s going to mean about 500 dollars less for the holidays, but it could be worse. "And I think we're all sitting back and praying that more budget cuts don't come."

Because more cuts may not cost TPS employees a day's pay, it might cost them their jobs. Maia Weaver says the families hit hardest are those with two Tulsa Public Schools employees. The district's scheduled three more furlough days for this year.

The next one is the day before Thanksgiving.