PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board voted to furlough 280 employees.

Officials say 180 of them are teachers. The furloughs were decided based on seniority and certification.

“For now, they don’t have a job with us,” Dr. Linda Lane, Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent, said.

She says it’s beyond difficult to furlough good employees, but having to eliminate $29.1 million from the budget is no easy task.

“You just hate to do it,” Sherry Hazuda, a board member, said. “When you look and there’s a girl I coached in softball who just got married. We furloughed her tonight. That’s hard to do. It’s really hard – especially when you can put a face to it.”

The furloughed teachers and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers are actively searching for other jobs – something Dr. Lane says she is promoting to lessen the blow that in this case was inevitable.

“Certainly, it’s hard and we all understand that, but as I said, I think for the most part they understood,” Dr. Lane said.

Back in May, 285 teachers received provisional furloughs, but after retirements, resignations and other changes, that layoff was reduced by over 100.

The union president calls this a really sad day at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.

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