The Santa Barbara school board has approved a tentative labor agreement with the teachers union that allows up to 10 furlough days depending on funding cuts from the state.

The agreement also calls for a 1 percent bonus for certificated staff members if the district’s unrestricted ending balance is more than 6 percent.

The district is still pursuing concessions from classified staff, hoping to avoid large numbers of layoffs, and negotiations are continuing this week after more than a month of cancellations.

The district issued 160 layoff notices to classified staff and 120 to certificated staff, including Santa Barbara Teachers Association members.

Even with the concessions, board members said during Tuesday’s board meeting that they’re keeping all options for cuts on the table to guard against a worst-case scenario.

“Overnoticing” gives the district some security since unification of the secondary and elementary districts essentially guarantees all employees’ jobs for the next two years.

The school board is expected to pass a budget this month for 2011-12. 

— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk or @NoozhawkNews. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.