BELFAST – The school department will wait until after the holidays to discuss the thorny issue of resorting to furlough days to balance the budget.

SAD 34 Superintendent of Schools Bob Young said Thursday that he hoped to schedule meetings with members of the district’s employee association and its administrative team once they return from their Christmas break. Young has suggested up to three furlough days for all employees as a way to fend off the estimated shortfall.

The district has projected a $600,000 deficit in its $19.6 million budget before the end of the year.

“We’ll meet with the association after the holidays on furlough days and the same with the administrative team,” said Young. “Everything else is on hold until then. I don’t expect any cuts in positions at this point in time.”

When the school board met earlier this week members instructed Young to approach district employees about accepting furlough days as a way to get out of the hole and avoid potential layoffs. Young has indicated that as many as 21 positions would need to be eliminated in order to cover the deficit.

“No one wants to see anybody laid off,” said board member Raymond Moore. “No one wants to lose their job, but we’re going to have to balance the budget by the end of the year.”

Young informed the school board of the deficit earlier this month. He revealed that spending trends during the first part of the school year already pointed to a major shortfall unless costs were lowered.

Young attributed the problem to skyrocketing overruns in the substitute teacher account, construction overruns at the East Belfast School, increases in the cost of fuel for heating and transportation and increases in food service. He told board members that serious belt-tightening would be needed in the coming months. The longer it takes to reach a solution, he cautioned, the harder it will be to balance the books come June.

“It’s inevitable that we’ve got to take some action,” said Young. “Time is not our friend.”

Young has already instituted a spending freeze and energy conservation measures – thermostats rolled back to 67 degrees – as ways to address the problem. With 85 percent of the budget dedicated to personnel, layoffs or concessions from the staff would have to figure into the equation.

Young said that if the association agreed to furlough days, he hoped to schedule them without having to close district schools. He said the furloughs could be applied to scheduled teacher workshops and early release days. He said furlough days for bus drivers, custodians, secretaries, education technicians and food service personnel could be “juggled around” between now and the end of the year.

SAD 34 Education Association president Betty Lu Brown said Thursday that the members agreed to discuss the situation when they meet after the break. She said she spoke to Young about association matters Thursday but the furlough issue was never raised.

“We will meet and discuss this among ourselves, and we will wait for the superintendent to make an official request before we do anything,” said Brown.

Along with the conservation measures board members suggested the possibility of converting to a four-day school week as a way to reduce energy costs. Young said state law requires a 175-day school year, and unless that regulation changed, a four-day week would not be an option.

“You could look at a four-day week with longer days in the future, but right now we have to have 175 days from September to June,” said Young.