Lynn School Committee postponed

LYNN – With two members out of town and another facing health problems, the Lynn School Committee was forced to postpone its Thursday meeting, meaning that a possible vote on teacher furlough days will also be put on hold.School Committee Secretary Thomas Iarrobino confirmed Tuesday it is the wish of Superintendent Catherine Latham and the members of the committee to postpone the meeting until Wednesday, Feb. 18, when all members should be in attendance.With Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. vacationing in Ireland, committee member Vincent Spirito doing the same in Aruba and committee member John Ford experiencing minor health problems, the committee would have been left with only four members to discuss a busy agenda Thursday night.Among the issues on the agenda are pending budget cuts to the department that could result in the layoff of several teachers and other department employees in the city.The Lynn Teachers Union is set to meet and potentially vote to decide if members would agree to sacrifice one furlough day – a day’s work without pay – to save their counterparts facing unemployment today. If the union agrees to the furlough day, the School Committee would then have to vote to approve the decision.Since the meeting has been pushed past Clancy’s deadline to send out layoff notices, Latham said Tuesday that layoff notices will be delivered Thursday, but could be rescinded if the committee and union agree to allow a furlough day.If the layoffs remain, the changes would go in to effect March 16.”It is just too important of a decision to not have everyone there,” said Latham.Latham said she would release a full list of layoffs Thursday morning.The School Committee will meet Feb. 18 at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than usual, at the School Administration building at 90 Commercial St. The members are expected to join Teachers Union officials in executive session and vote on the furlough day depending on how the union votes today.The Lynn City Council also postponed its meeting scheduled for Tuesday night to Tuesday, Feb. 17.