Atlanta Public Schools will furlough about 1,200 employees over Thanksgiving because of a shortage of funds resulting from the Fulton County tax freeze.
"The district plans to pay employees impacted by the furlough their salary for the two furlough days as well as pay them the one-time $500 stipend for employees not on the teacher salary in January 2018 when we anticipate the tax collections will have come in," the system said in a statement.
Last week, a DeKalb County judge signed an order clearing the way for Fulton County to collect the taxes. This past summer, the Fulton County Commission froze a portion of the tax digest for reassessed residential properties at 2016. This followed a public outcry over what were expected to be massive tax increases on properties across the county.
The furloughs are for employees scheduled to work on Nov. 20-21. "Traditional teachers are not impacted by the furlough and the school calendar will remain the same as published," the system said. "The furloughs are a critical part of APS’ strategy to address the significant cash flow challenges as a result of the delay in tax collections."
