Kuna School District furloughs more than 100 employees
The Kuna School District has furloughed 145 employees until school resumes after the extended closure due to coronavirus, Superintendent Wendy Johnson says.
No teachers are affected, Johnson said in a letter Wednesday. The furloughs affect school- and district-level classified staff, including people who work in food service, busing, safety, attendance offices, classroom aids and other areas.
The district has 282 classified employees, slightly more than half of whom have been furloughed. Originally, 121 staff members were furloughed, but others volunteered to be furloughed, district spokeswoman Allison Westfall told the Statesman.
The state has directed schools to be closed through the end of this school year, although the State Board of Education this week cracked the door open for late-semester reopenings if the coronavirus recedes sufficiently.
The employees will be able to keep their health insurance and will return to work when school resumes, which for some employees will be June or July. Johnson said many classified employees don’t typically work when students are gone for breaks or vacations.
“During a short emergency closure such as a snow day, staff don’t work but are paid. This emergency closure, however, is very different,” Johnson wrote in a letter posted to the district website. “We’ve identified other work for some, but not all. We cannot continue to pay staff for not working.”
Free weekday meals for children will not be changed by the furlough, Johnson said, nor will home delivery of instructional material and meals.
Johnson wrote that the economic slowdown has meant a 1% reduction in school funding from the state, estimated to cost the district $875,000. Savings from furloughs, expected to be about $520,000, will help offset those cuts, Johnson said. The district expects some federal stimulus money, but that money will be targeted toward specific needs.
“It is our dearest hope that the spread of the COVID-19 in our community recedes quickly so we can bring our furloughed staff back, reopen our doors, and serve our students on our campuses,” Johnson wrote in her letter.
KTVB first reported on the furlough.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 11:02 AM.
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