Carrollton Board of Education members accepted Superintendent Tom Wilson’s proposal Monday to postpone any discussions of furloughing employees until January when they hear from the governor whether there will be more cuts to the school system’s budget.

“What I think we need to do is put off any furloughs until January, until we know if we’re going to get more cuts,” Wilson said. “If we don’t get anymore cuts, I think we can work and cut and save internally through the schools, through the programs to make up the money we’re losing for those three days.”

The school system will lose approximately $328,000 in payroll dollars and from the governor’s latest cuts a 5 percent in school instruction funding, plus the three furlough days for all state-funded employees, for a total of about $800,000.

It’s difficult to calculate at this point because the system has many locally funded positions that wouldn’t be included in the payroll cuts at the state level, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kent Edwards said. Until the cuts reach the allotment checks the system receives from the state, they won’t know the exact amount.

Wilson asked the board members to hold off on instituting the cuts to protect employee morale as well as their pocketbooks. The teachers have been required to donate .25 percent more money to their retirement funds this year and the system cut a free aftercare program that many employees utilized.

“It’s very, very clear that as a board we felt like we needed to do whatever we could to help support the teachers,” said Dr. Michael Rothschild, chairman of the board. “They give enough of their own time in the pre-time already; to start cutting that is something that I’d like to avoid at any cost.”

The amount saved won’t change if the school system waits to institute furloughs, and the employees may not have to take them at all if there are no more cuts, Wilson said.

“The only downside is this, if we furloughed now, we could take that money and prorate it over 12 months,” Wilson said. “If we have to furlough in January, that money will be prorated in eight checks.”

However, the highest amount any teacher would lose in the furloughs is around $1,200 and that would be an employee at the top of the pay scale with a doctorate degree. That would mean a small difference in the monthly amount withheld. The administrators did discuss furloughing only certified employees rather than including all employees such as custodial and clerical, because of the pay difference.

“We felt like the savings would be marginal at the salaries some of those folks make,” Wilson said.

However, all discussions will be held in January, when the school system will know exactly how much needs to be cut.

In other business, the system is still working to see how much money will be cut from the Pre-K program. That program is funded through lottery funds, not state funds, and the system has not yet been notified if or how much the system might be cut.