Furloughs brought furrowed brows at Tuesday’s meeting of the Barrow County Board of Education, but the school board members had little option but to approve the recommendations from Barrow County School Superintendent Dr. Ron Saunders for additional furlough days,

Dr. Saunders’ recommended furlough days – Jan. 8 for 180-day employees, Jan. 8, Feb. 12 and May 25 for 190-day employees and Jan. 8, Feb. 12 and May 28 for administrators – were accepted by the board, but members all expressed their dismay in having to approve the furloughs.

The approved dates make a total of six furlough days mandated by Gov. Sonny Perdue. The additional furlough days will save the state about $125 million, according to Perdue, who stresses that furloughing teachers for three non-instructional days is a more platable option than laying off 2,000 teachers.

Should Barrow County have any more snow days, they will take the place of a scheduled furlough day. Both Feb. 12 and May 25 were previously set aside as teacher work days.

Board members approved Saunders’ recommendation to retrofit several of the district’s buses in a move to reduce emissions. The project will be funded by an EPA grant.

Finally, BOE members approved Saunders’ recommendation to renew the district’s contract with TeacherInsight Project, a program which screens applicants to determine which prospective teachers are a good match with Barrow County. Saunders said in approximately five years using the program, teacher turn-over rates have dropped from about one-third to under 10 percent every year. Because the program comes with a $14,000 price tag, members discussed researching similar, less-expensive alternatives before the next contract renewal.